Trelawny 'Labourites' want JLP to give them 'Mama D'

Western Bureau:

Two Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillors and some of their supporters took to the streets in Albert Town, Trelawny yesterday to make an urgent plea to their party’s leadership to approve Marisa ‘Mama D’ Dalrymple-Philibert as the party’s candidate for Trelawny South in the next general election.

Dalrymple-Philibert previously served the constituency for four consecutive terms as member of parliament (MP) but resigned as both Speaker of the House of Representative and MP on September 21 last year, amid a damning report from the Integrity Commission.

“We are here today making an appeal to Prime Minister Andrew Holness to name ‘Mama D’ as the candidate,” said Councillor Liston Waugh, of the Ulster Spring division, who, alongside his colleague councillor Devon Davis, of the Albert Town division, spearheaded the move.

“She (Dalrymple-Philibert) has represented us very well and we want her to continue and finish the projects she started and those in the pipeline,” continued Waugh.

Davis, a first-time councillor, said that while Dalrymple-Philibert resigned more than a year ago, contrary to popular belief, she has not stopped working in the constituency, though without official cover from the Holness administration.

“She resigned as member of parliament but she never stopped working with the people. Her work resulted in the JLP winning all four divisions in South Trelawny in the last local government elections. It is this kind of working relationship with the people we want to continue,” said Davis.

While the other two JLP councillors from the constituency, Falmouth Mayor Collen Gager, who represents the Warsop division, and Councillor Winston Smith, of the Lorrimers division, were not among the party supporters calling for the reinstatement of Dalrymple-Philibert, it is widely believed they, too, support the call for her return.

Up until recent months, former MP Devon McDaniel, who served the constituency on a JLP ticket from 2002 and 2007, was expressing an interest in replacing Dalrymple-Philibert but, after failing to get the nod of the party leadership, gradually faded away.

Just under a month ago, JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang said the party was on the verge of deciding on a candidate for Trelawny South, indicating that that individual would be identified before the party’s next annual conference in November.

While Dalrymple-Philibert has not publicly indicated that she wants to return as the candidate for Trelawny South, she made it clear while addressing the recent divisional conference for Sherwood Content that she still considers the residents of the constituency as family.

“South Trelawny labourites, you are my family. You know that, even though we have quarrelled from time to time, we have remained a family. I say to you tonight, I will never turn my back on you. This is my word and you can hold me to it,” the former MP said at the divisional conference.

Should Dalrymple-Philibert get the nod from the JLP hierarchy, she would be going up against funeral home director Paul Patmore, the People’s National Party’s prospective candidate. Patmore has made it clear that he wants Dalrymple-Philibert to be selected, as he plans to hand her a resounding defeat.

editorial@gleanerjm.com