Gammon ready to turn tables on PNP
Published:Tuesday | August 11, 2020 | 12:10 AM
Although facing an uphill task to overturn the more than 1,788-vote margin the People’s National Party (PNP) won Clarendon South Western by in 2016, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) standard-bearer there has declared his readiness to contest the impending polls.
“We are ready! We are ready for an election to be called. Any time the prime minister sees it fit to call an election for the people to choose, we are ready,” Kent Gammon told The Gleaner on Saturday, August 1.
He has been increasing his presence in the constituency, doing house-to-house visits to shore up votes to turn the tables on the PNP this time around, after losing his last bid in 2016.
While he did not have a copy of the recently published voters’ list to canvass, he, accompanied by JLP activists clad in party colours, set about executing the planned walk-through.
Gammon said his confidence is being boosted by the positive feedback he has been getting on the ground.
Special emphasis is being placed on the large number of people registered to vote but don’t show up at the polls. Young people, Gammon said, could be the fillip to bring the JLP over the line on election night.
In the 2016 polls, only 13,069 (or 48.72 per cent) of the registered 26,824 cast votes.
“I think we have enough Labour Party supporters in South West Clarendon who will help us bring the seat home. I know it’s traditionally being called a PNP garrison. It may have had that description in the past, but I don’t believe that there is any garrison [label] on South West Clarendon any more,” said the MP aspirant.
“The young people are not fixed on any political lineage. They want to see a difference in their lives. They know the Labour Party is for job creation, they know the Labour Party stands to help young people up and not just give them handouts,” Gammon told The Gleaner.