THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 15 - MARCH 16, 2024 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 6 JLP and PNP supporters along Collie Smith Drive St. Andrew Southern at the start of Nomination Day proceedings on Thursday, February 8 RUDOLPH BROWN/PHOTOGRAPHER THE ELECTORAL muscles of the two major political parties were on full display on Thursday, February 8 as die-hards turned out in their numbers to support their candidates who were nominated to contest the February 26 local government elections. IN AN apparent numbers contest to show whose political machinery was better oiled and ready to deliver victory on election day, the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) had throngs of supporters in a festive mood and raring to exercise their franchise in less than three weeks. Director of Elections Glasspole Brown told The Gleaner that both the JLP and PNP nominated their full slate of candidates for the polls. A total of 499 candidates were nominated. This includes 496 candidates vying for seats in the 228 electoral divisions and three candidates – one each from the major political parties and one independent – for the seat of mayor in the Municipality of Portmore. In Portmore, the PNP’s incumbent Leon Thomas will attempt to fend off the challenge of the JLP’s Markland Edwards and independent challenger Howard Hamilton. Thirty-six persons were nominated to contest the elections in 34 electoral divisions across the island as independent candidates. Brown said that nomination day operations were incident-free, with the candidates completing the nomination process within the time designated by the electoral body. 499 candidates nominated for high-stakes Feb 26 local gov’t election A SUGGESTION by the parliamentary Opposition that a panel of three eminent persons be established to adjudicate on matters that arise in the run-up to the local government elections on February 26 did not find favour with the Government. The administration last week used its superior numbers in Parliament to pass the Political Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2024. The bill will next go to the Upper House on Friday for debate. When Justice Minister Delroy Chuck moved a motion last week that the bill be read a second time, members of the Opposition called for a divide, which allowed lawmakers to register their vote on the proposed law. There were 21 ayes from the Government side while seven lawmakers on the Opposition benches dissented. The bill was then examined at the committee stage and passed. Before moving the motion for the bill to go to the committee stage, Chuck again made a case in Parliament for the nine commissioners of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) to perform the role of the political ombudsman. There are four selected commissioners on the ECJ, two representatives each from the People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party, and the director of elections. “I think it is cheap and outrageous to say that this body could be partisan. I think it is unmeritorious to say that this body can’t continue to act independently,” Chuck declared. However, St Andrew South Eastern Member of Parliament Julian Robinson rose on a point of order, saying that at no point did any member of the Opposition say that the ECJ was partisan. Picking up from where he left off last week, Chuck urged the Opposition to support the Government’s move to have the ECJ commissioners conduct the role of the political ombudsman. The role has been left unassigned since the Donna Parchment Brown’s tenure as political ombudsman ended in November 2022. [ NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED ] Gov’t passes ombudsman bill amid Opposition dissent
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