ALBERT TOWN, Trelawny – Incumbent Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) member of parliament for South Trelawny Devon McDaniel, who said a little over a year ago that he will not be contesting the next general election, has changed his mind, and now wants to contest the St Catherine seat for the party.

McDaniel, 33, confirmed in an interview with the Observer yesterday that he has applied for the job, and expressed confidence that he will get the nod to become the party’s candidate in the area.

“I applied sometime last week and I believe that I will get a favourable response from the party and I know I will come out on top there,” the MP said.

In September last year, the Observer first reported that the young parliamentarian would not be contesting the next general election, constitutionally due in 2007, because of what he said was a disappointment with the Westminster system of government.

McDaniel at that time argued that getting things done in the constituency had proven to be difficult, particularly because he does not hold a ministerial position.

“If I need something to be done in the agriculture sector, for example, I will have to approach the minister (of agriculture) and if he decides to have pity on me, then I might be facilitated,” said McDaniel. “But if he doesn’t have pity, no assistance would be forthcoming, and that’s not right.”

But yesterday, the incumbent MP said that in recent months he has become convinced that JLP leader Bruce Golding is committed to making profound changes to the existing political system.

“My interest in politics has disintegrated somewhat, but based on the utterances of Bruce Golding and the consistency in the utterances where he is striving for constitutional reform, transparency and most importantly the need for politicians to be respected. I have changed my mind,” said McDaniel.

The young parliamentarian was elected in the 2002 general elections after beating the People’s National Party’s Doreen Chen by almost 1,500 votes. He was, at that time, one of the youngest members of parliament to be elected.

Following his announcement that he would not be contesting the South Trelawny seat, the JLP installed attorney Marisa Dalrymple Philibert as its representative to contest the upcoming election in the area.

South Central St Catherine is currently represented by the PNP’s Sharon Hay-Webster, who defeated the JLP’s Trevon Garvey by 1,656 votes in a 55 per cent voter turnout during the last general election in 2002.