THE EDITOR, Sir: Questions have been raised about the appropriateness of former PM Holness being eligible to receive a PM’s pension after only spending two months in that position.
I am unable to find – anywhere – a time frame for prime ministers to ‘qualify’ for a pension. To the best of my knowledge, Mr Holness did not carelessly or recklessly attempt to remove himself from that position, and even if that were so, I do not think that would disqualify him.
There is a proposal to introduce legislation to limit a PM’s tenure in office. At the same time, we are living longer. The possibility exists, therefore, that we may be paying quite a few ex-PMs in the not-distant future. In the United States,
four ex-presidents are currently collecting pensions. We were, until recently, paying three.
Allow me to remind your readers of the case of the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison who, interestingly, was the only president to receive training as a doctor. On the day of his inauguration, the weather was bitterly cold and wet. Yet, without coat or hat, he marched in the procession and spent nearly two hours delivering what is still the longest inaugural speech in American history.
Because of this, he died of pneumonia 31 days later. Indeed, he only had time for one official act – that of calling Congress into an official session. His presidential salary was US$25,000 per year, and his wife Anna received a pension of $25,000.
It is possible that his pension may be the only pleasant memory Mr Holness will have of his sojourn into the thankless business of politics.
GLENN TUCKER