Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter

Next Tuesday, American citizens - both on the homeland and abroad - will vote for their country's next president.

They will decide between incumbent Democrat Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, and the Americans who do business with Jamaica - or call the island home - have certain expectations from the next commander-in-chief.

Investor and entrepreneur Robert Florea hopes the new president will bring unity.

"I am looking for a leader who will focus on bringing the country together as a nation," Florea told The Gleaner. "I am hoping the new president can lead the Congress to work together."

Florea, who has lived in Jamaica for nearly 25 years, opined that Obama was handcuffed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives because they wanted him to fail. He hoped whoever wins the election, it would not impact Jamaica negatively.

"I'm hoping that we can continue to have a good relationship with Jamaica," he said. But Florea said based on feedback from home, one major barrier is the perception of corruption that hangs over Jamaican politics. He said there was a sentiment that aid was not going to those who really needed it, but to those who back the major parties.

REVISE AID DISTRIBUTION

"Hopefully, there will be a different kind of way to do business with funding that might be forthcoming," he said. He hoped that the relatively new People's National Party administration would give Obama or Romney a reason to believe there is a new style of politics going on.

Steve Morgan, of American Clean Energy, said he wanted a president who understands that the US is not an island unto itself.

"What we do, why we do it, as well as how we do it, are all of consequence," said Morgan, who now lives in Jamaica. He said the next president needs to focus on solving real problems guided by that principle.

daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com