Holness, Phillips battle for Clarendon seats

At least four of the five seats in Clarendon could decide which political party holds sway in the upcoming election as the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) converge on constituencies in the parish this weekend to give their candidates a boost.

Andrew Holness, prime minister and JLP leader, is slated to tour four constituencies today in Clarendon while Dr Peter Phillips, the opposition leader and PNP president, will focus on Clarendon North Central today and Clarendon North West tomorrow.

Holness was scheduled to lead a motorcade through the two constituencies targeted by Phillips as well as Clarendon South East and Clarendon North.

Both party leaders will be seeking to rev up their respective political machinery in Clarendon North Central, where the JLP’s Robert Morgan goes up against the PNP’s Dr Desmond Brennan.

Holness recently opened a constituency office for the JLP in Chapelton but is expected to revisit that town and tour Cocoa Piece and Summerfield.

Losing by 556 votes in the 2016 general election, the PNP is banking on Clarendon North Central to help push its tally of seats to a majority in the upcoming polls.

Co-Campaign Director Phillip Paulwell told The Gleaner on Thursday that Brennan, who lost to Pearnel Charles Sr in 2016, remained in the constituency and has dug deep to win the hearts and minds of voters.

“Our own polling and soundings revealed that it is going to be one of those close contests, and we will win,” said Paulwell, who declined to give details about the margins of the party’s poll.

NO THREAT

While admitting that Brennan, a medical doctor, was a good candidate, former member of parliament for Clarendon North West, Michael Stern, said that the PNP’s candidate was no threat to Morgan.

Stern said that Calvin Lyn was the only PNP MP that won the seat for his party. Lyn, Stern said, was a businessman who used his own resources to fix roads from Chapelton to May Pen.

The former MP said that the PNP seized on the strength of Lyn to win the seat marginally.

“And then he won it the other time because Pearnel Charles Sr was weak,” he added.

“The most natural Labour seat in Clarendon is North Central. If it gets a fresh candidate, it is going to do well,” Stern asserted.

Paulwell brushed aside notions that the three-time incumbent, Richard Azan, could be sent packing when the votes are counted on election night in Clarendon North West.

The JLP’s Phillip Henriques is of the view that the people of Clarendon North West will bring him across the line to end the PNP’s dominance.

However, Paulwell said that Azan was one of the hardest-working incumbents across the country.

“When you look at the number of projects he has been able to complete, when you look at his relationship with the various schools, the police, the youth, there is no way he could lose that seat,” Paulwell told The Gleaner.

“He has been there for the people. They know him.”

There is also a toss-up for Clarendon South East, said Paulwell.

When asked if Patricia Duncan Sutherland could defeat Pearnel Charles Jr, Paulwell said: “I am willing to bet on that one.”

“We have done detailed canvassing and analysis in South East ... . It’s one of those seats where use of technology will prove to be invaluable, and she has stuck to the task.”