Local polls December 5
JAMAICANS are expected to go to the polls on Wednesday, December 5, to choose 227 councillors in 12 parish councils as well as the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC).
Candidates for the election will be nominated on Monday.
The announcement was expected to be made last night by Prime Minister Bruce Golding at the annual conference of his West Kingston constituency at the Tivoli Gardens Community Centre.
Up to press time a large crowd was building up at the centre, anticipating the announcement, but although the prime minister was at the centre he was not expected to speak until late in the night, following the private meeting of the constituency delegates.
Director of Elections Danville Walker said last night that the election date must be at least 16 days after nomination day and not more than 23 days after.
However, Walker said that unlike a general election there is no five-day waiting period between the announcement and the actual date of the local election. So Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates will be able to go straight into nomination mode a day after the party’s one-day annual conference at the National Arena on Sunday.
The last local government elections were held on June 19, 2003 and was contested by 495 candidates.
The ruling JLP and the Opposition People’s National Party are expected to contest all 227 divisions, as well as the direct election of a mayor for the Portmore Municipal Council.
The National Democratic Movement (NDM), which contested 14 divisions in 2003 is not likely to contest the polls this time around. However, the Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Party (IEWFP), a Rastafarian party, is expected to nominate candidates.
The local government elections were due from June 2006 but were delayed by 18 months by the previous PNP government.
The JLP currently controls nine parish councils and the KSAC, which represents Kingston and St Andrew, while the PNP controls two (Portland and Westmoreland). The PNP also has the majority in the Portmore Municipal Council. The result in Clarendon in 2003 was a dead heat between the two parties, resulting in a power-sharing agreement.