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PM widely expected to announce election date todayBY BALFORD HENRY Sunday Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, July 08, 2007
MANY Jamaicans will, later today, either travel into the St Andrew capital or tune in to their favourite radio and TV stations for the outcome of this evening's People's National Party (PNP) mass rally, where Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is widely expected to announce the date of the general elections.
SIMPSON MILLER ... under pressure to announce election date
Thousands of "comrades" are expected to jam the famous square in Half-Way-Tree, where "uptown" and "downtown" Kingston meet, in what is likely to be a duplicate of the evening of September 22, 2002 when former Prime Minister P J Patterson announced the date for the 2002 general elections from the same location.
But PNP sources continue to remain tight-lipped about both the announcement and the likely date.
"I've not asked the prime minister up to now, and she has not indicated any date and I am not speculating," the party's general secretary, Donald Buchanan, told the Sunday Observer last Friday night, as he insisted that only Simpson Miller knows the date.
Ironically, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) general secretary Karl Samuda seemed more assured.
"We suspect very strongly that it will be so," Samuda said in response to the question of whether or not he felt the prime minister would announce the election date tonight.
"We will be listening for the date, and we will be prepared to set in motion everything that is required for a proper campaign," an upbeat Samuda added.
But the prime minister has repeatedly told the media that tonight's rally is to introduce her 60 candidates who will contest the election, which is constitutionally due by October.
"We will be presenting our team to form the next government of Jamaica," Buchanan said.
Buchanan told journalists at Jamaica House last Monday that there is nothing unusual about the event, because it is the first time the party will be presenting all 60 candidates at the same time.
The Sunday Observer was told that there are various currents running through the party as to what date to name, and when.
Simpson Miller's predecessor, P J Patterson had indicated in 2002 that before naming the date it was necessary to ensure that the electoral system is in complete readiness and the security forces are prepared.
There is no evidence that the readiness of the security forces will be a factor in any way. However, there must be some concern as to how soon Parliament and the Electoral Commission can reach a compromise on the proposed sentences for open balloting to allow the bills to be passed and instituted prior to the election.
Meanwhile, the JLP, which was last night scheduled to staged a major public meeting in Brown's Town following tours of North and South Trelawny, has postponed its original programme for today - a public meeting originally scheduled for Stony Hill tonight, as well as tours of North-West and East- Central St Catherine by the JLP and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.
Instead, the party's full slate of candidates will huddle in a meeting outside of Kingston today.
"We will be having a meeting of all 60 candidates, plus the councillors, and we will be meeting all day in Ocho Rios," Samuda told the Sunday Observer. "We will go through our manifesto and it will hit the road during the week."
Today's meeting of the 60 JLP candidates in Ocho Rios will be followed by a press briefing by Golding, and the party leadership.
With most observers confident that Simpson Miller will announce the date tonight, the issue changes to when Jamaicans will vote.
If she calls a July general election it would be the second such time in Jamaica's political history. The first being 1959, when the election was held on July 28, giving the PNP its second success at the polls.
But back then, Jamaica was still a colony of Britain, and August 6th, Jamaica's Independence Day, had not yet emerged. Nor was August 1 - Emancipation Day - yet a public holiday.
Over the years, governments have appeared unwilling to intrude on the country's annual emancipation/independence celebrations by having elections in late July.
The most popular month for general elections has been December, with five held so far, followed by February, which has hosted three. Two, including the last general elections, have been held in October, while January, March, April and July have each had one.
The Representation of the People Act (ROPA) requires that nomination day be five clear days after the announcement, and that the election be held 16-23 days after nominations.
Political pundits speculate that if the prime minister makes the announcement tonight, she would have up to August 5th. But both August 4th, a Saturday, and the 5th, a Sunday, are out of the question, as would August 1, which is Emancipation Day.
Yesterday, political analysts speculated that the prime minister would call the election for July 31, given that the ROPA leaves her very few options between that date and August 6.
However, said one analyst, "who says she has to make the announcement tonight? She has the right to hold out on the election until November".
PM widely expected to announce election date todayBY BALFORD HENRY Sunday Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, July 08, 2007
MANY Jamaicans will, later today, either travel into the St Andrew capital or tune in to their favourite radio and TV stations for the outcome of this evening's People's National Party (PNP) mass rally, where Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is widely expected to announce the date of the general elections.
SIMPSON MILLER ... under pressure to announce election date Thousands of "comrades" are expected to jam the famous square in Half-Way-Tree, where "uptown" and "downtown" Kingston meet, in what is likely to be a duplicate of the evening of September 22, 2002 when former Prime Minister P J Patterson announced the date for the 2002 general elections from the same location.
But PNP sources continue to remain tight-lipped about both the announcement and the likely date.
"I've not asked the prime minister up to now, and she has not indicated any date and I am not speculating," the party's general secretary, Donald Buchanan, told the Sunday Observer last Friday night, as he insisted that only Simpson Miller knows the date.
Ironically, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) general secretary Karl Samuda seemed more assured.
"We suspect very strongly that it will be so," Samuda said in response to the question of whether or not he felt the prime minister would announce the election date tonight.
"We will be listening for the date, and we will be prepared to set in motion everything that is required for a proper campaign," an upbeat Samuda added.
But the prime minister has repeatedly told the media that tonight's rally is to introduce her 60 candidates who will contest the election, which is constitutionally due by October.
"We will be presenting our team to form the next government of Jamaica," Buchanan said.
Buchanan told journalists at Jamaica House last Monday that there is nothing unusual about the event, because it is the first time the party will be presenting all 60 candidates at the same time.
The Sunday Observer was told that there are various currents running through the party as to what date to name, and when.
Simpson Miller's predecessor, P J Patterson had indicated in 2002 that before naming the date it was necessary to ensure that the electoral system is in complete readiness and the security forces are prepared.
There is no evidence that the readiness of the security forces will be a factor in any way. However, there must be some concern as to how soon Parliament and the Electoral Commission can reach a compromise on the proposed sentences for open balloting to allow the bills to be passed and instituted prior to the election.
Meanwhile, the JLP, which was last night scheduled to staged a major public meeting in Brown's Town following tours of North and South Trelawny, has postponed its original programme for today - a public meeting originally scheduled for Stony Hill tonight, as well as tours of North-West and East- Central St Catherine by the JLP and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.
Instead, the party's full slate of candidates will huddle in a meeting outside of Kingston today.
"We will be having a meeting of all 60 candidates, plus the councillors, and we will be meeting all day in Ocho Rios," Samuda told the Sunday Observer. "We will go through our manifesto and it will hit the road during the week."
Today's meeting of the 60 JLP candidates in Ocho Rios will be followed by a press briefing by Golding, and the party leadership.
With most observers confident that Simpson Miller will announce the date tonight, the issue changes to when Jamaicans will vote.
If she calls a July general election it would be the second such time in Jamaica's political history. The first being 1959, when the election was held on July 28, giving the PNP its second success at the polls.
But back then, Jamaica was still a colony of Britain, and August 6th, Jamaica's Independence Day, had not yet emerged. Nor was August 1 - Emancipation Day - yet a public holiday.
Over the years, governments have appeared unwilling to intrude on the country's annual emancipation/independence celebrations by having elections in late July.
The most popular month for general elections has been December, with five held so far, followed by February, which has hosted three. Two, including the last general elections, have been held in October, while January, March, April and July have each had one.
The Representation of the People Act (ROPA) requires that nomination day be five clear days after the announcement, and that the election be held 16-23 days after nominations.
Political pundits speculate that if the prime minister makes the announcement tonight, she would have up to August 5th. But both August 4th, a Saturday, and the 5th, a Sunday, are out of the question, as would August 1, which is Emancipation Day.
Yesterday, political analysts speculated that the prime minister would call the election for July 31, given that the ROPA leaves her very few options between that date and August 6.
However, said one analyst, "who says she has to make the announcement tonight? She has the right to hold out on the election until November".
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