Party pivot

Unless any “egregious” material is found to disqualify them during the due diligence process, five councillors who defected from the People’s National Party (PNP) after being elected in 2016 will be Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates in the upcoming local government elections. One JLP defector will also seek re-election on a PNP ticket and the PNP is expecting to welcome a second this week.

Kari Douglas, who represents the Trafalgar Division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), was the first of the five PNP councillors to cross the floor in February 2020.

Faith Sampson-Nickle of the John’s Hall Division in Manchester followed, joining the JLP ranks in July 2020.

Ian Myles (Little London Division) and Garfield James (Sheffield Division) followed suit in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation after they – along with the since-returned Lawton McKenzie – broke ranks with Comrades in September last year over the selection of Ian Hayles as the party’s standard-bearer in Westmoreland Western. In cameo appearances at the Jamaica Labour Party’s annual conference in November, the duo told Labourites that they looked better in green and that they were saved by the bell, referring to the party’s colour and symbol.

Venesha Phillips, who represents the Papine Division in the KSAMC and who had been waging a social media war against PNP President Mark Golding, also made the switch in November.

JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang told The Sunday Gleaner last week that the four will very likely be candidates, noting that the party’s slate will be ratified on January 14.

“We have a couple of persons with whom we will be having discussions this weekend. The slate is not really complete until the Central Executive confirms them. The Central Executive meets on January 14 … ,” he said.

The JLP’s Central Executive is its second highest decision-making body, outside of the annual conference.

“They will be candidates for the party unless something egregious is found against them,” Chang said.

“Venesha should be a candidate for the party. That confirmation will also come on the 14th, but the recommendation to the party will be in line with that,” he said, referring to the latest defector.

Uncertainty, however, looms for the JLP in the St Margaret’s Bay Division in Portland, where Councillor Stephen Williams last week sought and was granted an injunction barring the hosting of a selection process, which could have possibly seen him struck from the list of prospective candidates for the polls, which are due by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, Chang told The Sunday Gleaner that he was unaware of any challenges to the key positions – chairman, deputy chairman and general secretary – that will be elected at the Central Executive meeting next weekend.

PNP ‘CLOSE TO COMPLETION

PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner that the party is “close to completion with just a handful of divisions to be finalised”.

“The party replaced James with the councillor he [succeeded], Derrick McKenzie, who served five terms prior to his replacement. Myles was replaced by his former campaign manager, Oliver Reid,” he said, referring to the two Westmoreland councillors who have now joined the JLP.

“The sounding on the ground is that PNP supporters will be voting for the PNP’s candidates as there is a general mood of people being fed up,” Campbell said.

Douglas has been replaced by Jesse James Clarke, who is the PNP’s junior spokesman on health.

Campbell noted that the PNP has also received two JLP defectors – one a sitting councillor and the other a caretaker. A sitting JLP councillor from Clarendon is also expected to switch allegiance this week, he added.

William Cytall, councillor for the Troja Division in St Catherine, crossed the floor and joined the PNP in March 2022. He will be seeking re-election on a PNP ticket this time around.

On the national level, both parties said nearly all their standard-bearers are in place for the next general election.

Chang told The Sunday Gleaner that Westmoreland Western Member of Parliament George Wright remains an independent legislator. He said that should Wright, who was elected on the JLP’s ticket in the 2020 general election, reapply to the party, his application would be given due consideration like any other.

“Wright is a good member of parliament, but he has not reapplied to the party,” the JLP general secretary said.

Wright resigned from the party while being dogged with allegations of domestic abuse after a man was captured on CCTV beating a woman with a stool and his fists. Wright has neither publicly confirmed nor denied whether he was the man recorded.

Chang reiterated that the first-time parliamentarian was never charged, but has “gone through a series of counselling with reputable individuals”.

“He has maintained his presence in the constituency at the local level, so if he reapplies, we would have to take it seriously,” he said.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com