JLP pours scorn on selection of Isat Buchanan to contest East Portland for PNP

PORT ANTONIO, Portland:

The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is criticising the People’s National Party (PNP) for what it describes as its scant regard for integrity following that party’s decision to name attorney Isat Buchanan as its standard-bearer for Eastern Portland.

In a release from the JLP yesterday, the party noted Buchanan’s formal announcement as the PNP’s prospective candidate for the constituency, replacing Colin Bell.

The JLP said that, for a Mark Golding-led PNP “which professes to have an Integrity Committee which vets candidates, to confirm and endorse Buchanan reinforces the fact that the PNP cannot be trusted with governing Jamaica”.

Noting Buchanan’s drug conviction in Jamaica (which was later expunged), and his time spent in a United States prison for a similar drug smuggling crime involving cocaine, the JLP argued that the PNP has no moral authority to speak on matters concerning corruption, crime or ethics.

Earlier in the day, however, PNP party faithfulS gathered in Port Antonio to greet their new candidate, who will seek to wrest the East Portland seat from the incumbent Annmarie Vaz of the JLP.

PNP supporters gathered in the vicinity of the ruins of the Musgrave Market, as well as along the corridor of a commercial bank in the parish capital, Port Antonio, to meet up with Buchanan, who is entering representational politics for the first time.

The prospective candidate would later arrive and was greeted with shouts of “Buchanan time come” as supporters momentarily blocked the streets in the vicinity of the cenotaph, in a bid to get close to their new political representative.

‘Enjoying the moment’

Addressing his supporters, Buchanan said that the task ahead was by no means a challenge as, according to him, he was called by the people to serve.

“I am enjoying the moment so far and I am grateful and honoured that the people are welcoming me in a way that I never expected,” he said.

“They will not get disappointment. They will expect somebody who will show up. They will expect somebody who will act. They will expect somebody who will listen. And they will expect somebody who will elevate. That is what I represent; rehabilitation, elevation, and the possibilities are endless,” he added.

The decision by the PNP to present Buchanan as the prospective candidate for East Portland has been seen as a bold move as the party seeks to wrest the seat from Vaz, who first defeated fire-brand politician Damion Crawford by 306 votes in a hotly contested by-election in 2019.

Vaz would one year later cement her grip on the constituency in the 2020 general election, trouncing Bishop Purcell Jackson by an impressive margin of 1,903 votes.

editorial@gleanerjm.com