PNP’s Hall hangs political aspirations on the will of constituents
Published:Thursday | October 12, 2023 | 12:05 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE OPPOSITION People’s National Party’s (PNP) choice of one medical doctor in favour of another in Westmoreland Eastern remains unresolved.
Long-standing contender Dr Glenville Hall and his supporters are not happy with the decision of party president Mark Golding and other officers of the party not to give him the nod to contest the seat in the next general election.
“I will go with whatever the people say and if the people of Eastern Westmoreland accept the decision of the party, that’s the route I will support fully,” Hall said in response to a question from The Gleaner on the party’s selection of Dr Dayton Campbell, its general secretary.
“For now I will not be the one that adds any fuel to the fire,” the PNP Region Six vice chairman with responsibility for recruiting and outreach said.
Hall, who had offered himself as “the change you can believe in’’, wants the PNP leadership to meet with the foot soldiers on the ground to iron out the differences they are having in its decision not to select him as the MP aspirant.
Earlier this month, the PNP confirmed Dr Campbell as its parliamentary candidate in Westmoreland Eastern for the next general election.
That decision has left some supporters from the constituency upset and they hit out at the decision to anoint Dr Campbell as the party’s parliamentary standard-bearer.
The PNP, in an October 2 press statement, said that the initial applicants, Dr Hall and educator Ricardo Gordon, did not get enough votes in an internal poll done over the summer and, therefore, they did not meet the established selection threshold.
“A Dr Hall we want, we don’t want Dayton Campbell down here. If we sick we can get free check-up from Dr Hall,” a supporter of Hall said.
Daniel Lawrence of the Jamaica Labour Party is the sitting member of parliament for the constituency, which was once held by former PNP president and prime minister, P.J. Patterson.
Lawrence won the seat by 11 votes in a magisterial recount over the PNP’s Luther Buchanan.
Lawrence polled 4,862 to Buchanan’s 4,851 from 117 boxes in 115 polling divisions in the constituency, with Independent candidate Haile MiKa’el tallying 36 votes in the 2020 election.
The seat had been awarded to Buchanan in the final count when the returning officer broke the 4,834-all deadlock by casting the deciding vote after a lucky draw. However, Lawrence was declared the winner after a magisterial recount.
“I am not saying that I am putting up a fight or I am not in support. I am in support of my party and I am in support of decisions made by the party,” Hall said.
However, he expressed concerns over the method the party used in selecting its general secretary over him, arguably without the full consent of the people on the ground.
“A lot of people on the ground feel that they were not a part of the decision making and that is what needs to be addressed in order to move forward,” Hall said.
“I am a strong supporter of my party and the party leader has made his decision. However, there are a lot of people on the ground that think differently, and one has to ensure that the people on the ground are in full support of the decision,” Hall explained.
He wants the people’s views to be heard and respected.
“I support the people because they were the ones that called me out and asked me to be a part of the whole process so we can’t just disregard their opinions and their views,” Hall continued, pointing to the need for consultation to end the impasse among party supporters.
“The decision was made without full consultation with them and I think they are looking for the party to come and explain the reasons for their decisions and move forward from there,” he added.
Dr Campbell, the former MP for St Ann North Western, was unsuccessful in his 2020 re-election bid, losing to Krystal Lee of the the JLP after polling 1,878 votes to Lee’s 2,605.