#Kingston, May 28, 2019 – Jamaica – Former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga, died today (May 28), in the United States, where he was receiving treatment.
Mr. Seaga, aged 89, was Jamaica’s fifth Prime Minister, serving
from October 1980 to February 1989.
Through 43 years of unwavering service to the nation, the former
Prime Minister played a fundamental role in shaping Jamaica’s post-Independence
parliamentary landscape.
Mr. Seaga was one of the founding fathers who framed the Jamaican
Constitution in 1961. He initiated a
rewrite of the Human Rights section of the Constitution to provide for a
Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms; and created the office of public defender. The former Prime Minister was also a member
of the first Parliament of independent Jamaica.
Described as a prolific, transformational
leader, he had the distinction of being the longest-serving Member of
Parliament (MP) in the history of Jamaica and the Caribbean region. Mr. Seaga represented
the constituency of West Kingston from 1962 until his retirement from active
politics in 2005.
Mr. Seaga’s legacy in shaping the country’s political history began at age 29, when in 1959, founder of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Sir Alexander Bustamante, nominated him to serve in the Upper House of Parliament – the Legislative Council (later the Senate). Mr. Seaga was the youngest member to be appointed to serve in this capacity.
After winning his seat as MP in 1962, Mr.
Seaga was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Development and Welfare. Following
the 1967 General Election, he was appointed Minister of Finance and Planning
and in 1974 became the Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), a capacity in
which he served for 30 years.
Mr. Seaga became Prime Minister following
the General Election of October 30, 1980. The JLP again took the helm of
Government at the 1983 General Election and Mr. Seaga remained Prime Minister
until February 1989. During
the course of his political life, Mr. Seaga made a significant impact on Jamaica’s growth and development through the
introduction of various programmes and the establishment of institutions
across the social, cultural, political and financial sectors.
Starting from as early as 1961 with Things
Jamaican, Mr. Seaga also established the Jamaica Festival Movement, and spearheaded
the repatriation of Marcus Garvey and his appointment as the country’s first National
Hero.
The former Prime Minister also created the
training institution, HEART Trust/NTA; and established the Urban Development Corporation, Jamaica Stock Exchange
and Jamaica Unit Trust. Also to his
credit was the creation of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank; Students’ Loan Bureau;
National Development Bank; Agricultural Credit Bank; Jamaica National
Investment Promotion Ltd., now Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO); and the
EXIM Bank. His interventions
to enhance the lives of the most vulnerable were perhaps the areas in which Mr.
Seaga made the most resounding impact.
In the 1960s, Mr. Seaga
transformed his West Kingston constituency, then known as ‘Back-O-Wall’ into
a modern, low-income residential community. It was renamed Tivoli Gardens and remains a model of successful urban
community development.
“The little things can
give me as big a moment of joy as the big things. I like to do things that can
help people to develop, because when you help people to develop, you are
helping the country to develop,” Mr. Seaga told JIS News in 2016.
Mr. Seaga launched the Golden Age Movement
in the 1960s, which was a new concept in modern community care for the aged, and
the first Golden Age Home was built in 1985.
Also, the Food Aid Programme was established
by Mr. Seaga in 1983 to assist the poorest groups in the society by
supplementing their food supply. Further, in 1970, Mr. Seaga launched the
Student Revolving Loan Fund to assist needy students at the university level.
In
recognition of his contributions, Mr. Seaga received several prestigious awards
at the local and international levels. Among
them were the Order of the
Nation in 2002, the second highest honour in Jamaica; several
Doctor of Law (LLD) degrees from international universities between 1981 and
1987; the United Nations Environmental Leadership Award; Dr. Martin Luther King
Humanitarian Award; and the Gleaner’s Man of the Year award for 1980 and 1981.
The North
South Highway was also named in honour of Mr. Seaga in 2018.
When Mr.
Seagaretired from representational politics, he accepted a post as Senior
Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, and was
later named Chancellor at the University of Technology in 2010. He served as President of the Tivoli Gardens
Football Club, and chaired the Premier League Clubs Association.
The former Prime
Minister also had several publications, including ‘Grenada
Intervention: The Inside Story’; ‘Revelations:
Beyond Political Boundaries, Lectures 2005-2009’; ‘Parent-Teacher Relationships’, published by
the Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI; and ‘Revival Spirit Cults’
(Jamaica Journal), published by the Institute of Jamaica.
There are also two volumes
of his autobiography, titled, Edward Seaga: My Life and Leadership: Clash of
Ideologies, Volume 1; and Edward Seaga: Shaping History: Hard Road to Travel,
Volume 2.
Mr. Seaga also did CD compilations of ‘Folk
Music of Jamaica’ (album of music recorded by Ethnic Folkways Library), and ‘Origins
of Jamaican Music: Reggae Golden Jubilee’, which was released in 2012. During his illustrious
tenure, Mr. Seaga helped to shape many political minds, including Prime
Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, upon whom he made a profound personal
impact.
In a 2012 tribute to Mr. Seaga in Parliament when he was
Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Holness referred to him as “one who mentored and,
I dare say, fathered me politically”.
Mr. Holness, who said he had the privilege of working with Mr.
Seaga during his early years in politics, said he was amazed by his capacity
for work and his attention to detail.
Thanking him for dedicated and faithful service to Jamaica,
Mr. Holness said that Mr. Seaga’s name is “indelibly etched on almost every
facet of Jamaican life”.
By: Alecia Smith
Release: JIS
Photo Captions:
Header: The late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga, speaks at the opening of the Tivoli Gardens Restorative Justice Centre, in West Kingston, in 2017.
First Insert: The late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga, opens the 1983 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives. To his right is the late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Hugh Shearer.
Second Insert: The late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga (centre), peruses a programme at a ceremony at King’s House in 1992. Others (from left) are the late former Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Howard Cooke; former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson; the late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Hugh Shearer; and the late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Michael Manley.
Third Insert: The late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga (left), and Mrs. Carla Seaga, at a ceremony at King’s House in 2016.
JIS File Photos