Election ready - PNP gearing up if poll called after SOEs lifted

THE LEADERSHIP of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has declared itself fit and ready to challenge the ruling Jamaica Labour Party if Prime Minister Andrew Holness calls a general election shortly after winding up states of emergency (SOEs) across the country.

Tuesday’s announcement by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang that the SOEs will be allowed to expire on July 25 has been viewed as a possible signal that Holness might call an early general election.

The emergency crackdowns have been imposed to cauterise murder and other violent crimes. There has been vigorous debate about the worth of the SOEs, which have driven down murders in the majority of the 10 police divisions under such measures but there has been negligible impact on the national casualty toll.

PNP General Secretary Julian Robinson said last night that the party, fractured by a bitter internal leadership challenge in September 2019, was now united and focused on victory.

“The PNP is ready for an election. We have all 63 candidates in place,” said Robinson.

“Our candidates have been in place for a while and are working. The campaign leadership is finalising our policy platform and communications strategy,” he added.

And Horace Dalley, member of parliament for Clarendon Northern, said that the party was prepared to face either the general or local government elections separately but also relished the groundbreaking prospect of a two-in-one poll.

“The prime minister wants to have both elections on the same day. There are some constitutional issues and some legal issues that have to be cleared up, but we are prepared for anything the prime minister comes with,” Dalley told The Gleaner.

“The PNP has been preparing for elections from last year. Whether it be two-in-one or one-in-one, we are prepared to run the elections.”

Dalley also said that he had been advised that the prime minister had written to the Electoral Office of Jamaica or Electoral Commission of Jamaica for an opinion on a collapsed poll.

Attempts by The Gleaner to contact Director of Elections Glasspole Brown or Chang, the JLP’s general secretary, were unsuccessful, as calls to their mobile phones went unanswered.

The SOEs mark an important weathervane because Holness had said, in April, while seeking a 90-day extension of the special security measures, that he would not call an election while emergency powers were in effect.

And recently, his counterpart, Dr Peter Phillips, the president of the People’s National Party, insisted that he intends to hold Holness to that promise.

COUNTERINTUITIVE DECISION

Chang revealed on Tuesday that the Government was willing to call time on SOEs, which the Holness administration has been using to fight back against gangs. The decision appears counterintuitive to the Government’s vigorous defence of SOEs’ effectiveness.

“There will be no request for extension beyond the 25th of [July]. The idea is to syncronise the existing state of emergency in the Corporate Area and everything come to an end the 25th,” the minister told Parliament.

Chang’s announcement has set tongues wagging, and at least for political commentator Kevin O’Brien Chang, the possibility that the prime minister could be setting the stage for an election is logical.

A general election is not constitutionally due until early 2021 and local government elections by November this year.

“It is quite a possibility you would think. It has always been expected that the prime minister would call and election as soon as possible. Because logics say he has handled the COVID-19 crisis good so far and they want to get the bounce,” said Chang, a pharmacy tycoon.

“Plus, the economic hardships are going to start biting. Until the US sorts itself out, we are going to suffer,” he said on Tuesday evening.

But a senior JLP politician told The Gleaner last night that many pundits have not been interpreting the signals correctly that the election could be called in August.

“He recently made some announcements, including naming Leslie [Campbell] to the Cabinet. You really expect that within two months he is going to be able to do the work that is necessary to achieve the desired outcome? No!” the politician, who did not want to be identified in this story, said as he shared his own prediction with The Gleaner.

“I don’t want to go out there and say my prediction and everybody runs with it and it causes problems like what Peter Phillips did with Portia [Simpson Miller]. That is not my style, but, to me, it seems the election will be after September when there is a clearer picture of what the situation is across the country,” he reasoned.

The insider said that it would be politically irresponsible for the party to enter an election without having the opportunity to canvass the July 31 voters’ list.

“That is yet to come, and it will be too close to call an election for the August date that they are talking about,” the politician further reasoned

“And if you look again, certain sectors of the economy are not yet opened, so how you expect that to go? You have to have most things aligning; you might not get everything to be aligned but most things have to be before you can call election,” he added.

Romario Scott contributed to this story