Diaspora ready to work with Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)
Daryl and Ann-Marie Vaz after they voted yesterday.
Published in the Jamaica gleaner: Tuesday | September 4, 2007
The Jamaican diasporic community stands ready to work with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) should it form the government after the final results of yesterday's general election are announced. That's the word coming out of United States and Canadian diasporic organisations.
This is according to Dr. Harold Mignott, a representative of the Jamaican Diaspora Northeast chapter which includes about one million Jamaicans spread throughout New York, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Boston, Connecticut and Maryland.
The Jamaican Diaspora Northeast chapter, Dr. Mignott said, congratulates the Jamaica Labour Party in its victory at the polls. He too said his organisation stood ready and eager to work with the new government. He said it is the hope of the organisation that the Government will consider the diaspora an important and significant part of moving Jamaica forward.
Two-seat difference
Phillip Mascoll, president of the Jamaican Diaspora Foundation Canada, said his organisation congratulates the JLP on its election to form the Government of Jamaica. Similarly, he said, the organisation, extends best wishes to the People's National Party in its loss.
Mascoll said, however, that the two-seat difference between the two parties was an indictment on the Jamaican political system. He said that the voters of Jamaica were sending a message that they are dissatisfied with the two parties and with the way politicians had performed. Neither party, he said, can feel comfortable with the margin. The margin, he said, is too thin to foster stable government.
The Jamaican Diaspora Foundation, he said, would be watching any court action involving a challenge on candidates that have dual nationality. He acknowledged that many who would want to return to Jamaica and even get involved with the nation's politics would not want to give up their Canadian citizenship. He said that there are 400,000 Jamaicans living in Canada, of which about 200,000 enjoy dual citizenship.
