Musical chairs continue on political front
• Nearly all PNP, JLP candidates settled for local gov’t polls • Warmington to retire • No Trelawny Southern by-election
Published:Sunday | October 22, 2023 | 12:10 AMErica Virtue - Senior Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister Andrew Holness is keeping the date of the long overdue local government election close to his chest, but the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have ramped up their campaigns.
According to the general secretaries of both political parties, candidate selection for most divisions have been finalised.
The election, which is due to be held before February 28, 2024, has already been postponed three times and the PNP has threatened to take legal action if there is a further delay. In August, Holness said the government intends to honour the constitutional requirement to hold the election by February 2024.
The last postponement this year was met with heavy backlash from the Opposition, who noted that the move was in contradiction to true democracy. The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica also expressed concerns about the many postponements and urged the government to have the election.
Last week, both Dr Horace Chang and Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretaries of the JLP and PNP, respectively, said outstanding divisions to be settled for both parties are down to single digits.
“We have a person in every division, but we have about six to be confirmed. Two in St Elizabeth, two in Trelawny and two others,” Chang told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.
Campbell said candidate selection for both local and national elections is expected to be completed by month-end.
“For the municipal divisions we have more than 220 of the 228 candidates needed and the others will be named by next weekend. About five or six are outstanding at this point. We expect that it will be a sprint to the local government election,” Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner.
The local government election, which is constitutionally due every four years, was last held in November 2016. It was due to be held in November 2020 but was postponed because the country was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was notwithstanding the fact that a general election was held two months earlier.
WARMINGTON NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION
The Sunday Gleaner was also told that parliamentary candidate selection for both parties are also well advanced. The general election is due to be held in 2025.
Chang also disclosed that long-standing Member of Parliament (MP) Everald Warmington has formally written to the JLP stating his intention not to seek re-election for the St Catherine South Western constituency when the next national polls are held.
“Everald has written indicating his desire to retire and there is a young man there working the seat who should be confirmed,” he said.
“And then we have Marisa (Dalrymple-Philibert), who resigned and will be replaced (in Trelawny South). We have a couple of persons as possible replacements.”
Addressing the rumours that Juliet Holness, MP for St Andrew East Rural, had expressed an interest in replacing Warmington in St Catherine South Western, Dr Chang said, “Juliet is not going anywhere. She is staying.”
He also said a by-election was not being considered at this time to replace Dalrymple-Philibert, noting the time period for the next general election, which is due in less than two years.
Dalrymple-Philibert resigned as MP and House Speaker last month following the tabling of an Integrity Commission report that implicated her in wrongdoing.
“We don’t have any significant changes to make re the seats. We are pretty much sure except for the seats where you only need to put a name,” Chang noted.
“Perhaps the only significant change is that Matthew Samuda is now in St Ann North East instead of Marsha Smith.”
BUNTING ASSIGNED TO MANCHESTER SOUTHERN
On the side of the PNP, while there has been no official statement of his status, Campbell said Peter Bunting has been appointed the executive assignee in the Manchester Southern constituency.
“Essentially, that person operates as the chairman of the constituency to make sure the constituency organisation is in place. The party wants to make sure that it has a quality slate of candidates for the election,” Campbell explained, noting that they are yet to select candidates for at least eight constituencies, which they expect to do by month-end.
He also hit back at JLP critics who argued that PNP candidates who lost their seats in the last general election were now looking to contest in other constituencies.
“Somebody should really call out these people talking about persons, me specifically, moving from one constituency to the other. The very point they are making pointed to Krystal Lee, who, when she ran against me, was a councillor in St Mary. Which meant that she had to have a resident address in St Mary. Daryl Vaz was councillor for a division in Kingston when he ran in Portland and it wasn’t a problem, so why is it a problem now with PNP persons?” Campbell asked.
He pointed to Chang, Dr Christopher Tufton and Edmund Bartlett, who switched constituencies after their losses at the polls, and asked if he was the only one not allowed to move.
JLP 80th ANNUAL CONFERENCE FOR END OF NOVEMBER
Chang believes that after the local government election, the JLP will be more definitive about general election candidates as others will give clear indications as to their political future. Among them are Lester Mike Henry, 88; Karl Samuda, 81; Babsy Grange, 77; Delroy Chuck, 72, Edmund Bartlett, 72; and 71-year-old Audley Shaw.
The general secretary also noted that the JLP will be holding its 80th annual conference on the last weekend of November, and not the customary third weekend, as the National Arena was not available.
“The third week was not available and I was faced with the possibility of bringing it forward to November 12. But it wouldn’t have been possible for those dates in terms of the availability of the venue and some other things. The last week is more suitable for everybody’s timetable,” he explained.