Ernie Smith’s daughter Marsha tipped to replace Shahine Robinson
Published:Sunday | July 19, 2020 | 12:31 AMCarl Gilchrist - Sunday Gleaner Writer
St Ann attorney-at-law Marsha Leonette Smith is set to follow her father, Ernest ‘Ernie’ Smith, into representational politics after all but securing the candidacy to replace Shahine Robinson as the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) candidate for North East St Ann in the upcoming general elections.
A private funeral was held last Friday for Robinson, who died May 29, ahead of an official funeral to be held by the Government at a suitable date, considering the current coronavirus pandemic.
Ernie Smith served for two consecutive terms as member of parliament for South West St Ann, between 2002 and 2011.
His daughter, who works with Smith’s law firm, Ernest A. Smith and Company, which has offices in Brown’s Town, St Ann, and Kingston, and who was admitted to the Bar in October 1997, would be a newcomer to representational politics.
GREEN LIGHT
Sources told The Sunday Gleaner that Smith got the green light from the JLP’s selection committee last Thursday night, and it was now left to the party’s machinery in St Ann to approve the selection.
One party source expressed confidence that Smith’s candidacy will be ratified.
Efforts to reach Smith yesterday were unsuccessful, but her father, who declined to speak in detail, told The Sunday Gleaner that he was awaiting any such decision to select his daughter, “at which time I would be happy to comment”.
Smith’s selection would have come as a surprise to many persons in the constituency, considering that her name was not being mentioned in any quarters to replace Robinson.
It is unclear when the JLP’s North East St Ann organisation will meet on the matter.