ON YOUR MARKS

By: edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com

Image caption: Jamaica Labour Party and People’s National Party supporters in Kellits, Clarendon, on Thursday as they show support for their candidates on nomination day.

499 candidates nominated for high-stakes Feb 26 local gov’t showdown

The electoral muscles of the two major political parties were on full display on Thursday as die-hards turned out in their numbers to support their candidates who were nominated to contest the February 26 local government elections.

In an apparent numbers contest to show whose political machinery was better oiled and ready to deliver victory on election day, the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) had throngs of supporters in a festive mood and raring to exercise their franchise in less than three weeks.

Director of Elections Glasspole Brown told The Gleaner yesterday that both the JLP and PNP nominated their full slate of candidates for the polls.

A total of 499 candidates were nominated. This includes 496 candidates vying for seats in the 228 electoral divisions and three candidates – one each from the major political parties and one independent – for the seat of mayor in the Municipality of Portmore.

In Portmore, the PNP’s incumbent Leon Thomas will attempt to fend off the challenge of the JLP’s Markland Edwards and independent challenger Howard Hamilton.

Thirty-six persons were nominated to contest the elections in 34 electoral divisions across the island as independent candidates.

Brown said that nomination day operations were incident-free, with the candidates completing the nomination process within the time designated by the electoral body.

JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang said that the workers of the party showed up in their numbers and were energised and eager to get the job done.

SATISFYING REPORTS
“I was satisfied with all the reports that we got that we had an excellent showing of workers who came out on nomination day, and their energy and their commitment was clear, and they are prepared to go and get the work done for the Labour Party in their respective divisions on election day,” said Chang.

He expressed confidence that his party would snatch the St Catherine municipality and others, which he was not willing to disclose.

At the same time, Chang said that his party plans to retain the nine municipalities it currently holds.

Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretary of the PNP, said that the Comrades showed up in significant numbers and high spirits and motivated to bring about change, starting with the local government elections.

While declaring that the PNP intends to take the majority of the municipalities, Campbell held back from forecasting the specific ones the party plans to win.

On the question of whether the party was gaining traction, Campbell said :“I think it is because of the work that we have done. The leader of the party has given yeoman’s effort in applying himself to being out there touching base with the people, and I think he has communicated well about the problems that are there with the Government and what he intends to do, and people have bought into the concept that ‘Time Come’ for a change in Jamaica.”

While providing support to his candidates in St Andrew West Central, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the JLP leader, dismissed arguments that the local government elections were a referendum on his Government’s leadership.

GOLDING’S STATEMENT
His comment follows a statement by Opposition Leader Mark Golding that the results of the February 26 election would be an indictment on the stewardship of the administration.

“Every day my leadership goes through a referendum. This is no different. This is one in a series of events that every day speak in a critical way to my leadership and governance,” said Holness.

He acknowledged that his administration was not perfect but said that when compared to previous administrations, it had performed far better.

But Golding insisted that the “whole Jamaica is treating this (local government elections) like a general election. It’s like a kind of preliminary general election. The excitement is at a different level to what local government elections normally encounter because people are dying to send a signal to this Government that they want to get rid of them and bring in a government in which they can have trust and confidence”.

Golding said that Jamaicans are “tired of a Government with a leader who has broken his trust with the people through a series of actions over the last several years and a Government that hasn’t shown the capacity to care for the interest of the people especially the most vulnerable who need their help”.

There was a bit of drama in Hanover yesterday when O’Keefe Gocool’s application to run as an independent candidate was rejected.

The 40-year-old man, who was the first person to enter the nomination centre in Sandy Bay, gave his address as Round Hill Estate in Hanover Eastern.

However, his application was turned down by the returning officer and her team because his name was not on any voters’ list in the parish.

In Trelawny Northern, Eric Wint is going after the Martha Brae division as an independent candidate after he was not selected by the JLP.

Wint said that after putting in the work he was left disappointed when he was not made the party’s standard-bearer.

“Up to two months ago, I was slated to represent the Jamaica Labour Party in the Martha Brae division,” he said.

Lawton McKenzie, the incumbent councillor for the Grange Hill Division in Westmoreland who resigned from the PNP twice within the last six months, was nominated as an independent candidate.

The four-term incumbent was accompanied by his supporters, largely wearing pink, to the nomination centre at the Anglican Church Hall in Grange Hill.

He said he was offering himself to complete unfinished projects such as the road leading to the Grange Hill clinic.

The number of electors eligible to vote in the upcoming local government polls is 2.1 million Jamaicans.