CHARLES. the time has come for me to lead you out of your hardship to the promised land of social justice

Promising to bring a fresh wind of hope, liberty and prosperity to Jamaica, Pearnel Charles opened his campaign for the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Wednesday night in St Thomas, the parish where he began his parliamentary career 23 years ago.

"I will build that bridge for you to cross over from illiteracy and poverty to a life of freedom," Charles told an audience of approximately 400 of which 174 were JLP delegates. "You have been burdened, shackled and retarded for generations.
Now, the time has come for me to lead you out of your hardship to the promised land of social justice."

Charles, a former Cabinet minister in the JLP Government of the 1980s, and JLP chairman Bruce Golding are the only two persons so far who have declared their intention to seek the leadership of the JLP in November when Edward Seaga steps down at the JLP annual conference.

On August 10, Golding officially declared his candidacy at a glitzy launch complete with endorsements from JLP heavyweights at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

Charles, while not downplaying the effectiveness of such an event, said he was not in a position to "present any high-tech, multimillion-dollar launch".

"My intention is to meet with the people where they are," said Charles who explained that his campaign would give primary focus to constituency meetings.

"We are not influenced by the pockets of the rich, we are challenged by the status of the poor," Charles told Wednesday night's meeting in Port Morant.

"Our task is to rebuild our party, save Jamaica and give you the people of this blessed country the hope, energy and chance to create a better and brighter tomorrow," he said.

Charles also encouraged his audience not to sell their dignity and urged them to overcome lack of self-confidence which, he said, was a big problem in Jamaica.

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