Dear Editor,

As a sequel to my letter ‘A messy state of affairs?’ published on June 15 in the Jamaica Observer, I wish to make a few points.

It appears that there will be a run-off in St Ann South Eastern. As I intimated, the candidates — Wavell Hinds, Patricia Duncan Sutherland, and Kenneth Russell — and delegates should have known beforehand that in cases in which the winning candidate did not receive the required 50 per cent plus one vote, there would be a second round of voting. This should never have been an afterthought. You should never have some supporters claiming victory and declaring that it would be “hell and powder house” if their candidate did not become the party’s representative in the constituency. And you shouldn’t now have the general secretary trying to prove that a run-off is standard procedure in such cases.

Let me state categorically that I am not in favour of the first-past-the-post system. It is not democratic. For years Jamaica Teachers’ Association presidents have been elected by about 33 per cent of the delegates. No way! That body ought to modify its system.

But back to the People’s National Party. I proposed that, in such cases, there be a second round of voting two weeks after. In the interim, Russell and Hinds would court the support of Duncan Sutherland and her supporters. This is the way that the system ought to have worked in the name of democracy.

We need a strong Opposition and the 49-14 that now obtains in the Lower House is far from ideal. We need to send the message out to the parties that the candidate selection process is a serious matter. We need good candidates. We don’t need people who are rude to the press or who are misogynistic. We need candidates who are respectful towards their opponents. We need to get it into the heads of the party leaders that we are not prepared to vote for any candidate because of our support for a party. I really don’t think that the losing party should receive fewer than 25 seats in a 63-member House. Is one party so much better than the other that we have a 49-14 split?

I watched some clips from speeches in the House last week. I listened to Member of Parliament Lisa Hanna as she spoke eloquently on behalf of our children. It was stateswoman-like. My reaction? What a loss!

I now see that the party is trying to prevail on Hanna to reconsider and accept candidature in another constituency. She is obviously the most articulate in her party, perhaps the most articulate in the House. Let’s see what she decides.

As the candidate selection process continues, I trust that it will be seamless from now on.

Norman W M Thompson

norms74160@gmail.com