AENON TOWN, Clarendon — Engulfed by a sea of orange-clad supporters, a jubilant Delroy Dawson last night revelled in his victory in the Aenon Town Division.

He and other comrades hailed it as a signal of how the People’s National Party (PNP) will perform in the next general election. Preliminary results have Dawson polling 1,646, winning by a margin of 1.6 per cent, taking 50.8 per cent of the votes versus the 49.2 per cent or 1,592 received by the Jamaica Labour Party’s Suzette Barton.

“We’re elated. This is the general election before the general election. The feeling around you is the feeling of a general election victory. Those who are here and those who are watching… should be aware that the People’s National Party will return to power when the next general elections are called,” Member of Parliament for Clarendon South Western Lothan Cousins told the Jamaica Observer, straining to be heard above the cacophony of joyful voices and vuvuzelas being blown.

Councillor Mario Mitchell, who represents the Bellefield Division in Manchester Central, said Friday’s win was the correction of a mistake made in the February local government election when the JLP’s Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane bested Dawson to take what has traditionally been a PNP seat.

A confident Delroy Dawson emerges from the polling division after voting on Friday. 

“This is a turning point for the PNP moving forward,” he predicted. “And we are going to do everything in our power — whether April, September, any time they are ready the PNP will be ready. This is a signal, because the Government came here with every resources of government [and lost].”

As for Dawson, the man who returned the seat to the PNP, he spent the first few minutes trying to come to terms with what he had accomplished.

“I am so elated this afternoon, I can’t even talk,” he told the Observer as a car took him to meet his jubilant supporters. “It’s the greatest feeling in a long while. Hard work brings success. I’m feeling so proud of myself, the team, the party leader, everybody who come out and really work hard. It’s really a hard, hard task but we did it and it is very, very, very rewarding this evening.”

Throughout the eventful day there were accusations of voter intimidation and the police on one occasion fired warning shots in the air to break up a skirmish between JLP and PNP supporters.

Delroy Dawson (centre) greets Comrades in Aenon Town on Friday ahead of the by-election. (Photos: Oneil Madden)