KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Prime Minister Andrew Holness has again praised his outgoing Finance Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, who will step down as a legislator on Tuesday night.
Clarke is leaving to become a deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund ((MF), becoming the highest-ever Caribbean national to hold such a senior position.
“Nigel provided critical skills in managing the technical area of change. I don’t think that there is anyone in Jamaica who could question the technical competence of Nigel Clarke in managing the economic affairs and transforming Jamaica’s economic prospects,” Holness said.
He said he considered it a “distinct honor” to have a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) member sought after for an international position.
Clarke, speaking at the JLP meeting on Monday night to bid farewell to his St Andrew North Western constituents, said his resignation as a parliamentarian will take effect at midnight on Tuesday.
He told the meeting that he was leaving the playing field after six years and seven months and was endorsing Dwayne Smith, the person selected to replace him as the JLP standard-bearer in the constituency.
“As I leave the playfield, effective midnight… I want you to know that it has been the privilege of my life to serve you as a Member of Parliament. It has been the privilege of my life to respond to your fears, to respond to your needs, and to incorporate your ideas.
“You represent what is great about Jamaica,” he told the constituents.
In his address, he outlined several initiatives that he implemented in the constituency, having won a by-election in 2018.
Clarke has a PhD in numerical analysis from Oxford University in England and a master’s in applied statistics, among other qualifications. He is credited with reducing the island’s debt ratio from 110 to 72 percent in recent years.
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