Buchanan says he’ll meet PNP delegates tomorrow
SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – People’s National Party (PNP) caretaker for Central Westmoreland, Paul Buchanan is to meet with delegates from the constituency tomorrow in the wake of reports that Cabinet minister and member of parliament Roger Clarke could replace him as the party’s candidate in the upcoming general election.
“I will be meeting with the delegates on Monday and whatever action they will decide on, I will listen and be advised,” Buchanan told the Sunday Observer yesterday. “I don’t know exactly what they intend to do, but of course the delegates were the ones who voted overwhelmingly for me to represent the constituency last month, and so I am sure that they would want their choice to go forward,” he added.
The constituency has been thrown into a tailspin since Thursday when it was reported that Clarke – the incumbent MP for North East St Elizabeth, who announced two years ago that he would not contest the upcoming general election – is expressing a desire to offer himself as a candidate for the Westmoreland seat.
According to Buchanan, who in September fought off three contenders to emerge as the party’s caretaker for the constituency, since that time, the delegates have been having a series of meetings in a bid to address the issue.
Yesterday, he told the Sunday Observer that he was dismayed at the reports of Clarke’s intention to replace him, and warned that he did not intend to back down.
“. My candidacy remains viable and concretely intact, and I do not intend to retreat one inch,” he said.
Buchanan has been campaigning in the constituency for more than three months, following incumbent MP Karl Blythe’s announcement that he would not contest the seat in the next general election.
According to Buchanan, since that time, several private polls conducted in the constituency have shown him in a “favourable” position.
“Polls consisting of PNP contenders as well those with the opposing candidate all indicate the favourable reception I have experienced since declaring my candidacy,” said Buchanan.
A consultant in the Ministry of National Security, Buchanan had previously served the government in various capacities, including the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), Operation Pride and the Railway Corporation.
Yesterday, he said that as a result of his invaluable service to the PNP and PNP-led governments, he was astonished that he would have been treated with “such disrespect”, having offered himself for representational politics.
The Central Westmoreland constituency, which has been represented by Blythe since 1989, is said to be a safe PNP seat.
However, in recent months political pundits have been arguing that the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Russell Hammond, a former JLP MP for the constituency, has been making inroads there.