DR Peter Phillips said yesterday that the selection date for the new party president was well within the period his team had projected, adding that his ‘Solid as a Rock’ campaign would be using the five-week window to firm up his support base with party delegates.

The campaign has completed the bulk of its mass rallies, and would concentrate instead on more personal petitions to delegates.

Phillips, whose campaign was first fingered for throwing barbs at Portia Simpson Miller, insisted yesterday that he was confident that he could unite the party if he emerges victor.

“I am in a good position to unify the party and I am confident that the team that is emerging can unite the party,” said Phillips, speaking with the Observer after Patterson’s announcement of the date of the leadership election.

Earlier, departing president PJ Patterson had warned the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) that at the end of the contest the party should remain committed to “the democracy we are accustomed to.”

“I want to ensure that at the end of the process the PNP remains committed (to democracy). I want to say to the contenders that it is not worth winning at any price. What seems like victory can turn out to be very bitter,” said Patterson.

Phillips was resolute that his campaign would remain above board as the process entered its final stage, one he said that would be defined by carrying his message of wealth creation through the building of partnerships between government and producers, reducing bureaucratic red tape, advancing educational opportunities, creating business opportunities for the young and exploiting the interest of the world in Jamaican culture, especially music to the delegates.