Holness administration’s performance to be judged by turnout for local government elections, says Black River mayor
Published:Wednesday | October 25, 2023 | 12:10 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Derrick Sangster, the mayor of Black River in St Elizabeth, has stated that the Jamaica Labour Party and the Andrew Holness Cabinet will receive harsh criticism for their performance if voter empathy does not increase in the upcoming local government election.
“This coming parish council election is going to be a measuring stick for the Government of the Jamaica Labour Party,” Sangster said, citing the trend in slow and low turnout of electors for the local government elections.
The voter turnouts for the 2016 and 2020 general elections were 48.37 per cent and 37.85 per cent, respectively. In the 2016 local government election, the turnout was 30.5 per cent.
Addressing supporters of the JLP at its Brompton Divisional Conference recently, Sangster outlined that, as labourites, they would have to demonstrate a difference in terms of how their members and supporters turn out at the polling stations to stem voter apathy.
Voter apathy is a lack of interest among voters in the elections of representative democracies.
“Not only is it going to be a measuring stick for the councillors of the St Elizabeth parish council (now municipal corporation) and all over the island, but it is also going to be a reflection – and based on how people are thinking, on the performance of the government of Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party,” Sangster said.
In an effort to help restore hope in the democratic system in electing their representatives of government, the Black River mayor urged supporters to change their postures, settle political differences, and respect other people’s views and opinions.
“We are going to have to endeavour to put aside the quarrelling, the vexing, and the grumbling and make sure we get our neighbour and ourselves to go out and vote in the next parish council election,” Sangster said.
According to the St Elizabeth political leader, labourites should come out in their numbers to ensure that their respective councillor candidates win with a commanding margin so that the JLP administration can completely take control.
“When we win, we must win with a clear majority to avoid losing control of the island corporation. It is important that we keep a clear majority in our parish councils to ensure that we can give the necessary support to the members of parliament and the government of Andrew Holness to carry on the work that the Labour Party is doing,” Sangster challenged party supporters.