14 Facts About Shahine Robinson

Shahine Elizabeth Robinson was a Jamaican politician, who served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security.

Shahine Robinson was a member of the Parliament of Jamaica for Saint Ann North Eastern.

Shahine Robinson served briefly as the Transport and Works Minister from late November 2011 to January 2012.

Shahine Robinson was born and raised in Claremont, Saint Ann Parish, where her parents Peter and Kathleen and grandparents all lived.

Shahine Robinson graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Jamaica and went on to Miami Dade College, where she earned an associate degree in marketing and a diploma in public relations.

Shahine Robinson lived in the US intermittently from 1978 to 2001.

Shahine Robinson had been involved at the margins of politics for almost two decades as a JLP supporter, and was tapped by then-Leader of the Opposition Edward Seaga to do more work during Michael Belnavis' leave of absence.

Shahine Robinson was first elected to Parliament after the resignation of People's National Party MP Danny Melville in 2001, defeating the PNP's Carol Jackson in the resulting by-election.

Shahine Robinson was naturalised as a US citizen in 2006, while sitting in Parliament.

Shahine Robinson went on to defeat PNP candidate Oswest Senior-Smith in that election by 2,022 votes.

Shahine Robinson continued to hold her parliamentary seat until a court removed her in 2010 and ordered her to pay legal costs of J$15.3 million to Bowen.

Shahine Robinson went through with the formal renunciation procedure, and obtained a Certificate of Loss of Nationality in December 2010.

Shahine Robinson then won back her old seat in a by-election that month, defeating PNP challenger Devon Evans, and was sworn back in as an MP in January 2011.

In November 2011, Robinson filed a challenge to the costs order in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was excessive; she particularly objected to the J$5 million paid to professor David P Rowe for a legal opinion about her citizenship, arguing that the information could have been obtained at much lower cost from US government sources.