Edward Seaga, former Jamaican Prime Minister dies

The Passing of Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga has been marked with the extension of condolences to the People of Jamaica by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet.
In a statement issued following the news of Mr Seaga’s passing Prime Minister Chastanet notes “
“It is with great sadness that the Caribbean region received the news about the Most Honourable Edward Seaga and on behalf of the Government and People of Saint Lucia I express our sincere condolences to Jamaica’s Prime Minister Honourable Andrew Holness, the entire Government and the People of Jamaica,”
Seaga, often credited as a dominant figure in shaping the island’s post-independence politics and cultural life, died on his birthday, Tuesday may 28th at the age of 89.
Mr Chastanet went on to address the legacy of Mr. Seaga, the 5th Jamaican Prime Minister noting “Many old enough will recall that Seaga was a leader in what was considered to be one of the more difficult times in the region’s development, he helped to shape a post-independence Jamaica and we are grateful for the contribution he made to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Our sympathies once again to the People of Jamaica and to his family in this time of sorrow.”
Born May 28, 1930, in Massachusetts, he was the child of Lebanese-Jamaican parents. While at a young age Mr Seaga renounced his U.S. citizenship, in a demonstration of loyalty to the island he would later lead.
A student of anthropology, he attended Harvard University and published several papers on Afro-Jamaican folklore and Obeah, a religion combining Christian and African rituals