Walker, Crawford join the election race today

BY CONRAD HAMILTON Sunday Observer senior reporter hamiltonc@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, November 06, 2011

AS the country's two main political parties hasten to complete their candidate selection process, two prominent faces will today be formally presented to their constituencies and the country as contenders in the upcoming general election.

Former director of customs, Danville Walker, will be officially named the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) representative for Central Manchester at a press conference scheduled for the Golf View hotel in Mandeville, Manchester.

The former president of the People's National Party's Youth Organisation, Damion Crawford, will be ushered in as his party's representative for East Rural St Andrew.

Walker, who stepped down as the head of customs on Friday, confirmed last week that he would be accepting an invitation from the JLP to challenge the PNP's Peter Bunting, the sitting Member of Parliament for Central Manchester.

He demits the customs post with lingering questions over his decision to allow shipments of scrap metal to leave the country in violation of a government imposed ban, an action that is now the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Contractor General.

Walker, who up until 2008 was the director of elections, was also the head of the Office of National Reconstruction, an entity set up by then Prime Minister PJ Patterson in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan to preside over hurricane rehabilitation efforts.

Meanwhile, Crawford, a former president of the University of the West Indies' Guild of Students will be launching his election campaign at the Harbour View Primary School in St Andrew at a function to be attended by PNP President and Opposition Leader, Portia Simpson Miller.

Crawford's selection as the party's representative for East Rural St Andrew — which up to a few months ago had businessman Peter Blake as its representative — followed months of speculation and manoeuvring inside the PNP.

However, the party reportedly became uncomfortable with Blake as its flag-bearer and decided to search for another candidate. That process created some bad publicity for the party as it was reported that members of the constituency machinery were unable to decide whether the nod should be given to Crawford or young banker, Leacroft Forden.

Following a series of meetings the PNP's leadership gave Crawford the go-ahead to contest the seat, which is currently held by the JLP's Joseph Hibbert, who himself is under pressure due to his alleged role in a bribery scandal involving the British bridge construction firm, Mabey and Johnson.

Up to the end of last week there were reports that Hibbert would announce today if he would remain as the JLP's candidate, or whether he would step aside and allow head of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Joan Gordon-Webley to be the party's representative in the seat.

However, Webley has not publicly acknowledged any interest in the seat.

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Walker, Crawford join the election race today