KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has reiterated its call for fresh general elections.
JLP Leader, Bruce Golding, addressing party supporters in the old capital of Spanish Town Sunday at the end of a five day pre-election campaign said the party was ready for the polls, constitutionally due next year but widely expected to be held by the end of this year.
“And tonight as we wind up in Spanish Town..I’m saying to the Prime Minister, if you have a gate you want to fly, you fly the gate because we ready, if you want to call it next month, we ready, if you want to wait three months time, we readier, if you want to wait till next year, we ready, ready” he said.
Last week, at the start of the island wide tour, both Golding and JLP general secretary Karl Samuda called on Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to announce the date for the elections.
In his address, Golding was critical of the Simpson Miller administration for what he characterised as the government’s contemptuous handling of wage disputes involving police personnel, teachers and nurses.
But officials within the ruling party have dismissed the calls for an early poll, saying that they were now focused on the party’s annual conference scheduled for September.
“What we are dealing with is organisational things, we don’t reach campaign yet. They say they are going to launch their campaign but we are dealing with organizational matters to deliver. We are not out there yet to deal with the hype and the motorcade and driving around Jamaica,” said PNP general secretary Colin Campbell.