WESTERN BUREAU:
People’s National Party (PNP) Deputy General Secretary Wensworth Skeffery has placed delegates and supporters of the party on high alert for the possibility of both local government and parliamentary elections before the end of the year.
“Central Westmoreland, let us be ready by October 31, because in my own mind, it is not passing November 30, so let us be ready,” he said while addressing the Dwayne Vaz-led constituency conference at the Petersfield High School on Sunday.
Skeffery said that despite three of the party’s councillors breaking ranks to now sit as independent representatives in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), all efforts will be made to ensure that the PNP regains full control of the WMC.
The local government polls, which were due in 2019, have been delayed four times and are set to be held by the end of February 2024.
“We have to be ready. We have to be prepared for any eventuality between now and February,” said Skeffery, who is also the PNP’s parish manager for Westmoreland.
“As we speak tonight, we have 14 out of 14 candidates in Westmoreland, and we are ready for Andrew Holness to call the election any time he wants to call it,” he added.
The PNP went into the last local government elections in 2016 holding all 14 divisions in Westmoreland, but the political tide shifted and it lost some critical divisions in the central and western regions to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
In those elections, the PNP won nine seats to the JLP’s five. Among the winners was George Wright, who went on to win the Westmoreland Central parliamentary seat in 2020.
The JLP’s Dawnett Foster (Cornwall Mountain), Lee Simpson (South Savanna-la-Mar), Rudolph Uter (Frome) and Kevin Murray (Friendship) also rained on the PNP’s parade.
But Skeffery believes the party is ready to sweep the parish once more.
“As we analyse the thing, it’s a real possibility that the PNP can win 14 out of 14 in Westmoreland. We have done it already and can do it again,” he said to loud cheers.
Turning to the state of readiness for the parliamentary election, which is constitutionally due in 2025, Skeffery said that the PNP has confirmed businessman and vice-president Ian Hayles as its candidate for Westmoreland Western and Dwayne Vaz for Westmoreland Central.
“We are entering, come September, year four of the cycle of the government, and those of us who understand politics, once it reaches year four, any card can play, so we have to get ready for the general election with Comrade Dwayne,” he said.
“By the annual conference, we are going to settle Eastern Westmoreland, so when they are ready, we will have three [general election] candidates and 14 at the local level,” he added.