JLP readying for Holness green light

The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has pulled the covers off its election machinery, conducting canvasses and fielding candidates for more than 200 divisions months ahead of the February deadline for local government elections.

Chairman Robert Montague said the party has intensified its preparations.

“We have been interviewing and confirming. We have candidates in all 228 divisions. However, there are about 12 divisions under review by the officers,” he said.

The divisions were randomly selected for auditing, Montague said in a Gleaner interview on Thursday, to determine if all structures are in place and to verify reports by respective heads.

He insisted that this is standard procedure.

“You have some divisions where more than one person has expressed an interest. You have some divisions where people complain about the caretaker because we do not in the JLP recognise candidates,” said Montague, referencing the party’s designation of chairmen or caretakers regardless of incumbency.

“So it might not necessarily be that person who runs based on the review,” he added.

The Gleaner has learnt that the Mona division is among the 12 under review. JLP Councillor Andrew Bellamy represents that division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

However, Montague would not definitively confirm this when pressed on the matter.

Bellamy resigned from the board of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) in September over a video showing him toasting to a COVID-19 no-movement day at a birthday party at the R Hotel.

Bellamy also resigned from all committees he chaired at the KSAMC amid public outrage, which caused Floyd Green, who was at the party, to resign as agriculture minister.

Pressed about Bellamy’s candidacy for the imminent polls, Montague said that that decision has been left up to the delegates of the Mona division.

“Not only Bellamy, but we’re leaving [Doreen] Hutchinson in Carron Hall [and] [Germaine] Smiley in Port Maria. We’re leaving Dalas [Dickenson] in St Ann’s Bay because that is the principle on which the Jamaica Labour Party is built.

“A lot of people try to superimpose what happens in another organisation and believe it is the same principle that operates in the JLP. It is not,” he said, noting that the party leader does not have absolute power and cannot install a candidate in a division or constituency.

Montague said that every division of the party must host an annual meeting of the divisional committee, which comprises workers, delegates, supporters, and management.

That body recommends a candidate, Montague said, to the constituency executive, which then makes a recommendation to the area council, which conducts the review/audit and submits it to the party’s operational council. That council reviews the report and makes a recommendation to the standing committee, which then reports to the central executive.

“... Everybody goes through the same process in the Jamaica Labour Party. We don’t cherry-pick,” he said.

The reviews are expected to be concluded before the party’s annual conference scheduled for later this month.

Montague told The Gleaner that a date has not yet been set for the conference, which is expected to be held at Independence Park.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will take on a hybrid format: in-person attendance and online access.

“It’s a very unique arrangement that will see us abiding by the protocols while facilitating the provisions of the party to have a quorum, among other things,” he said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced new COVID-19 containment measures, with a 10-person gathering limit.

A 50-person limit was reintroduced for weddings, annual general meetings, and worship services, and a 15-person limit for burials. Twenty persons are allowed for funeral attendance.

The measures are expected to end on December 10.

Meanwhile, the JLP chairman said the party is not overly concerned about the findings of the recent Don Anderson poll commissioned by the RJRGLEANER Group.

The findings of the poll, conducted between August 19 and September 3 among 1,003 Jamaicans, revealed that the JLP is ahead of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) by nine percentage points.

It indicated that 26 per cent of electors would mark their ballots for the JLP, while 17 per cent indicated a preference for the PNP.

However, an equal amount, 26 per cent, said they were not sure which party they would vote for, while 31 per cent of people polled indicated that they would not vote at all.

“The JLP, in its history, has seen what poll numbers can do to organisations. We have seen wonderful poll numbers and then when you get into the election, the opposite is true,” said Montague.

“We believe our canvass is a more accurate reflection of our readiness, of our attractiveness to the wider public.”

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com