The People’s National Party (PNP) last night indicated that it will increase its efforts to win the West Kingston seat in the coming by-election by assigning four Government ministers to the presentation of its candidate, Joseph “Bunny” Witter.

Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies; National Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips; minister of industry, science and technology, Phillilp Paulwell, Witter’s campaign manager; and Information Minister Burchell Whiteman attended the presentation. So too did member of parliament for Central Kingston, Victor Cummings; and a number of councillors.

The presentation took place at Unity Lawn at the corner of King and Beeston streets in downtown Kingston before a crowd numbering only a couple hundred.

The meeting, which was chaired by Ronnie Thwaites, should have started at 4:00 pm, but got under way at approximately 5:30 pm due to the late arrival of the ministers. Davies and Paulwell, who were scheduled to speak, did not, due to the late start.

The speakers emphasised the fact that the new electronic voter identification system will be in place for the by-election and that it offered the PNP a chance of regaining the seat it last won in 1959.

Thwaites suggested that the by-election would not be the usual “cake walk” for the JLP, and that with the introduction of electronic voter identification for the polling, “we do stand a chance of winning WestKingston”.

Dr Phillips said that the voters would have a clear choice between a candidate from the community and “someone without any clear abiding place or home”, a clear reference to Bruce Golding, the freshly-installed Jamaica Labour Party leader who is also contesting the seat.

Phillips said that the by-election offered a chance for the PNP to rebuild its strength in West Kingston, which has been represented by former leader of the JLP, Edward Seaga, since 1962.

Three Bills which will pave the way for electronic identification of voters in future elections will be debated in Parliament tomorrow. The date of the by-election is expected to be announced after the Bills are passed.

Witter was selected at a meeting of party workers in the constituency at the Chetolah Park Primary School on Saturday. He was endorsed by the party’s Region Three executive council yesterday.

He is regarded as a PNP community activist in West Kingston and represented the party in the 2002 general election when Seaga scored 11,251 votes to his 2,099.