Opposition party defends new selection candidate procedure

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Apr 24, CMC – The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has defended its decision to make changes to the selection process of candidates for Parliament, saying they are necessary to improve the party’s chances at the next general election, constitutionally due by 2025.

“We have embarked on a slightly modulated or adjusted process for selecting our candidates in the constituencies for the next general election, and we have done so primarily for the reason that we want to ensure that the PNP delivers a victory for the people of Jamaica in the next election. We want to ensure that the candidates we select to represent the party are those most suited and able to deliver that victory,”  PNP President and Opposition Leader, Mark Golding said.

Speaking at the PNP’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Montego Bay, St James, north-west of here on Sunday, Golding said the traditional process was one in which the delegates and group members in a particular constituency “if it was a recognised constituency, were the ones who chose the candidate.

“We are moving to a ‘one member, one vote’ system in the party, and that involves a process of reverification of membership, and so on. With it being a process, it has required refinement over the past two or three months, and the leadership is listening to the delegates, the aspirants, and the NEC members to make such adjustments as may be necessary to ensure fairness in the process,” Golding added.

“It’s really a kind of preliminary sifting process to take out potential candidates who really can’t move the needle and wouldn’t be able to win the seat for us. If there’s only one candidate, they still have to get more than 50 per cent support from the delegates to go forward in what we call a yes/no vote,” Golding later told a news conference.

“It’s gonna take a little time. We’re not there yet. So in order to ensure that we get… candidates that are winnable in the eyes of the voters, in the constituency, we’re polling them to make sure that there’s a certain threshold of support that they enjoy in order to move forward to be selected by the delegates,” he said.

At least two constituencies – St Ann North Eastern and St Catherine South Eastern – have expressed concerns with the changes and last week, outgoing St Ann South Eastern legislator, Lisa Hanna,  raised concern over the use of polls to select candidates for a run-off to succeed her as the PNP standard-bearer in the constituency.

Potential candidates are required to poll at least 25 per cent support to qualify for the run-off.

Former West Indies cricketer Wavell Hinds, JMMB Group Chief Operating Officer Patricia Duncan Sutherland, and Harvard graduate Dr Kenneth Russell are the PNP members vying for the nod.

But Golding said that the issues in St Ann South Eastern are being resolved. He said the matter had been discussed on Sunday and that there were various combinations of possibilities that had to be resolved by the NEC.

“The spirit in which it is being resolved is very positive, and part of my message to the NEC is that we are all in this together,” said Golding.

In the 2020 general election, the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won 49 seats as compared with 14 for the PNP. The opposition party 16 seats in the elections.

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