HOPEWELL, Hanover – Bruce Golding, the leader of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), said Thursday night that a general election was likely be called within the next seven months, and told party workers to ensure that the party’s organisation was in a state of readiness for the polls.

“You will remember that when we had (annual) conference in December we put the party on ‘election watch’ but in view of some recent developments, I am now putting the party on ‘election alert’,” Golding told party workers in Eastern Hanover Thursday night. “I want all of you as workers to begin the important preparation that has to be done to ensure that the party is put in a state of election readiness within the shortest possible time,” he added.

The opposition leader was referring to last week’s election of the popular Portia Simpson Miller, the local government minister, as the new president of the ruling People’s National Party.

Simpson Miller will be replacing outgoing prime minister, PJ Patterson, who is expected to demit office by the end of this month.

General elections are constitutionally due in 2007, but some political analysts have argued that Simpson Miller might want to obtain a fresh mandate from the electorate shortly after taking office.

Golding told the scores of party workers gathered at the Bethel Primary and Junior High in Hopewell, that with Simpson Miller as the PNP’s new leader, “certain implications follow”, which suggests the elections are likely to be held early this year.

“We have to make sure that when those elections are called, all of the critical preparations that we have to do, are in place,” he told the workers.

He added that next month’s budget was expected to contain “new hardships” for the country, which could force the government to call the polls by October.

According to the opposition leader, in light of the country’s indebtedness, the government was likely to impose additional taxes to service its existing debts and to “do the basic things that the government is required to do”.

“It is likely that the government might want to go to an election soon before the effects of some of the measures that will have to be introduced begin to have their impact on the country,” said Golding.

He told the party workers that although the PNP has elected a new leader it is the “same PNP”, pointing out that there was nobody “in there who has not been there since 1989”.

Thursday’s meeting of party workers in Hopewell was one of several addressed by the opposition leader in the parishes of Hanover, St Elizabeth and St James over the last two days, to prepare the workers for general elections.

Golding also told the Hopewell meeting that he has instructed all constituencies to immediately carry out a canvass of the voters in their respective areas.

“My instruction to all constituencies on Wednesday, March 1, was to commence a new canvass of the voters’ list in the constituency because we need to know where our voters are, where our supporters are, and we need to put in place the logistics to get out these votes on election day,” said Golding.

“While you canvass the list, you must find out yard by yard, home by home who are the labourites who are not on the voters’ list and get them to the registration centre this month.”

He added that a national campaign programme is being formulated and will commence soon.

“We are putting together the national campaign programme; critical campaign equipment, high tech media technology equipment, all of that is being assembled; some have already arrived in the island, and the rest of them will be here over the next couple of weeks,” Golding said.

“All of the operations units in the party have been directed to move into high gear to prepare their area of responsibility and to be ready to marshal the organisation of the party to face that election,” he told supporters.

He said during the national campaign the party would not just criticise the government about the hardships that they had created but would be putting forward solutions to fix the ills besetting the country.

“When we hit that campaign, we are not just going out there to tell the people how disastrous this government has been; we are not going out there to tell the people the hardships that they have had to bear, and about the various scandals; but we are going to point the way forward. We are going to give to the people of Jamaica some specific commitment in terms of how we are going to pull this country forward,” he said.

According to Golding, the selection of the remaining candidates for the constituencies has been fast-tracked and should be completed within another two weeks, after that they will be presented to their respective constituencies.