Portia to step down as PNP president before September

People's National Party (PNP) president Portia Simpson Miller has announced that she will not be seeking re-election next September.

She was addressing Comrades at the Cedar Grove Academy in St Catherine a short while ago at the party's National Executive Council meetin‎g.

Simpson Miller said a date will be announced for her departure.

However, she says she is giving potential contenders adequate time to organise their presidential campaigns.

Simpson Miller was elected PNP president on February 25, 2006, beating fellow contenders Drs Peter Phillips, Omar Davies and Karl Blythe.

She has since faced challenges on separate occasions from‎ Phillips and Blythe but prevailed with overwhelmingly more votes.

‎Today, Simpson Miller said having served the PNP for more than 40 years, and as president for 10 years it was time for her to make her exit as leader.

However, she says she is staying on in the short term to help rebuild the party.

She left the venue with chants of "No Portia: no Bunting, no Lisa".