Winding
down - JLP, PNP wrapping up election campaigns
Monday Dec 26th, 2011
The country’s main political parties are winding down their campaigns as they head toward the finish line on December 29, when Jamaicans go to the polls.
As they wrapped the last week of official campaigning, the Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) held a mass rally on Friday night in Naggo Head, Portmore, St Catherine. The night before, the Portia Simpson Miller-led People’s National Party (PNP) held its penultimate rally at the same venue. Both parties have spent a significant amount of time in sections of Portmore, and it was therefore not surprising for them to convene a rally in the heart of the new East Central St Catherine seat, one of three new constituencies that have been established by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica.
At the PNP’s rally held on Thursday, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson came out swinging at those who have been asserting that the PNP presided over the destruction of the country’s economy between 1989 and 2007.
Patterson made use of cricketing terminologies as he told the large crowd that he had accepted Portia Simpson Miller’s invitation to leave the cricket pavilion in order to offer support to the party which he once led.
“I have watched with amazement the desperate attempts to pull wool over the eyes of the Jamaican electorate. Even as they tell you that the PNP mash up the economy, and they build the economy, they are perpetrating the biggest falsehood that you could ever contemplate,” said Patterson, who declared that he had come with facts to counteract the arguments of the party’s detractors. He attempted to pour cold water on claims by the JLP that it has successfully addressed the macroeconomic factors that will spur economic growth.
“Today, 2011, the economy is smaller
by five per cent than it was in 2007 when the Jamaica Labor Party
took over. The amount of money that every Jamaican man, woman and
child owes is 70 per cent more than it was when Portia left office.
Poverty has nearly doubled, and the vast majority of the people in
the country say we are going in the wrong direction,” he said.
The former PNP President also took issue with the Government’s failure to submit to quarterly reviews, in keeping with the loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
In her address, Simpson Miller said she was feeling the wind of change and called on supporters to return her party to Jamaica House on December 29. “The bell can take you nowhere, your head is what will take you where you want to go,” said the party president.
Meanwhile, at the JLP rally on Friday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness brought the curtains down on the party’s official road campaign with the promise that hundreds of jobs will become available in the very near future.
Holness reiterated that the jobs will be generated through private sector-led initiatives, including Public Private Partnerships.
“When it comes to jobs, I am not going to promise you that I am going to borrow or tax the people to pay for jobs,” said Holness.
“Already we have started, the Minister of Industry and Commerce will tell you that we have just completed a deal with a major business process outsourcing firm called Convergis that will bring to Jamaica 1,000 or more new jobs,” said Holness.
He added that the planned construction of the Liquefied Natural Gas plant will also create another 1,000 jobs.
The JLP leader also told the gathering that employment opportunities will result from two major hotel projects which will be linked to the introduction of casino gambling. As he brought the meeting to an end, the party leader expressed confidence that his party will be victorious come this Thursday.
“When we started, we were, by many estimates, more than 10 points behind in the polls. In less than two months, we have covered significant ground. What I see on the ground is that the Labor party is now far ahead,” said the party leader as he downplayed the results of recent polls which suggest that the JLP is trailing the PNP ahead of Thursday’s election.
The two main political parties have agreed to end all forms of campaigning, including advertising, at midnight on December 27.
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