JLP would institute fixed election date if successful at polls

Leader of opposition Business in the Senate Tom Tavares Finson says the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will move to implement a fixed election date if it forms the next government.

He made the commitment in a press release in which he called for a fixed election date as a means of ensuring that Jamaicans are not subjected to the whims and fancies of any Prime Minister.

His comments follow Sunday’s declaration by Prime Minister Simpson Miller to thousands of supporters that the date for the 17th general election will be announced when God tells her.

However, Senator Tavares Finson argues that a fixed date would ensure new electors are not disenfranchised.

He notes that a new voters’ list is to be published at the end of the month and if the Prime Minister announces a nomination day before December 6, 37,000 people will not get a chance to vote.

Senator Tavares Finson says the JLP had put forward a proposal for a fixed election date in its manifesto for the last election, and would implement it if elected.