PNP going ‘all out’ to win local polls
CHAIRMAN of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), Bobby Pickersgill said the party’s candidates to contest the local government elections were substantially in place and his party had no intention of performing below standard at the polls.
He said the PNP’s state of readiness for candidates to contest the 268 seats in the 12 parish councils and two municipalities should be known in two weeks when general secretary, Donald Buchanan reported to the party’s National Executive Council (NEC).
“Although the official date of the elections has not yet been announced, we are in a state of readiness… The PNP is not going into the elections to lose,” Pickersgill told the Observer after last week’s Region Three delegates conference at the Jose Marti Technical High School, Twickenham Park in St Catherine.
The conference was called to select a region chairman and 60 NEC members.
Stressing the party’s determination to win, the PNP chairman said the party would launch an intensive campaign to capture all parish councils. He said it was important for the PNP to win the local government election, as the Opposition wanted answers as to why the JLP government had scrapped the local government ministry which was of “fundamental importance”.
“It is important that we win the local government elections (as) we think our record in local government is one we can stand by. In fact, right now, there is no ministry of local government. It is being changed in a sort of underhand way (and) we would certainly like to hear why it is so,” said Pickersgill.
“We believe quite differently that probably we should put it in the Constitution because local government is local government. I have no doubt about the usefulness of councillors (and) the proximity of the council to the people is something they can’t substitute and it is a level of politics that is of fundamental importance,” Pickersgill insisted.
Current Region Three chairman, former member of parliament for South-West Clarendon, Horace Dalley, was challenged by businessman Noel ‘Butch’ Arscott for the top post. But delegates will have to wait until Thursday of this week before they get the results of the election as the votes are being counted at PNP headquarters in Kingston.
Of the 506 delegates in the Clarendon and St Catherine region, 416 were registered to vote.