PNP got popular votes, but should they claim victory?
Published:Tuesday | March 5, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
With the controversy of the most recent local government elections, it is clear Portmore as a municipal should end. Portmore should become a parish. There should always be an odd number of municipal corporations. Kingston and St Andrew have been merged, and splitting both parishes to have 15 municipal corporations is not wise. If Portmore becomes a parish, they should continue to be a part of St Catherine Municipal Corporation, which could be renamed St Catherine and Portmore Municipal Corporation.
If Portmore wasn’t a part of the St Catherine municipal, the Jamaica Labour Party would’ve won it 16-13 and the People’s National Party would’ve won Portmore 9-3. Which means the result would’ve been 8-6 instead of 7-6. Going forward, it is clear that people should be able to vote directly for our mayors and deputy Leaders.
Popular vote don’t win elections in Jamaica. Hypothetically speaking, if in the next general elections, the People’s National Party got 31 seats and won the popular vote, and if the Jamaica Labour Party won 32 seats but lost the popular vote, will Mark Golding and the PNP really claim victory? We should be careful of the ‘popular vote’ argument, because Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine is not Jamaica.
Mark Golding, for the sake of our democracy, should concede. He and his party did extremely well to win more divisions and the popular vote by over three per cent. If this was a general election, his party would’ve picked up 13 seats to be at 27; that’s over 100 per cent increase in three years of election. Sometimes not conceding will make you seem strong and defiant; but for the sake of our democracy, do the right thing and concede. But also claim victory with regard to the popular vote and divisional counts. Mr Golding can even say that though he lost, he has the two most powerful municipal corporations in the PNP column – Kingston and St Andrew, and St Catherine. He can even boast that since the 1986 parish council elections, he is the first party leader since Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, in 1981, to have got over 300,000 votes in a local government election.
As a Labourite, I was happy for Mark Golding because I believe he was treated unfairly by the media, especially social media. I was one of them who believed Mark Golding was the best choice for PNP president, because he’s the only one who could unite and organise his party. He should even be given credit to have a lot of faith in his General Secretary Dayton Campbell and Chairman Angela Brown-Burke.
TEDDYLEE GRAY
Ocho Rios, St Ann