Dear Editor,

The campaigning for local government election is in full gear.

The fervency of party supporters would cause one to believe that this is a general election. The Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is in panic mode. Prime Minister Holness, especially, shows signs of weakness as he goes across the nation campaigning and still making election promises and breaking ground for numerous projects.

If the prime minister and the JLP Administration were doing what they were elected to do, they would not have to be campaigning and going overboard with the list of election promises.

For a Government that never had money to run a local government election, pay civil servants, promise and tout “no new taxes”, where is all this money coming from to take on these projects? We bear witness as our health-care workers and teachers left Jamaica in droves.

We cannot forget how Holness, as the Opposition leader, lambasted the then People’s National Party (PNP) Administration for high cost of living, slide of the Jamaican dollar, poor health care, high crime rate, corruption, among other things.

The country was ready for a “young, new, and different” leader in Holness.

At his inauguration a poised Holness set the tone and delivered a speech that we believed would set the nation on a new trajectory, away from that which we had become accustomed.

He made promises about what he would do in the first 100 days in office. The promised accountability and transparency is non-existent, and he is yet to fulfil one election promise.

The Holness Administration has doubled and tripled down on the vices of the PNP.

If the shoes were on the other foot — a PNP Administration in power — I wonder what Holness and the JLP would have to say. Would they want the PNP to remain in power?

Holness has failed the nation and the JLP.

It is time for a reset in the leadership of the JLP before the next general election.

Social media will cause Andrew Holness political chest pain. Social media will hound, haunt, and use his words against him.

Authnel Reid

reidaut@icloud.com