SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – Roger Clarke, 65, the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for Central Westmoreland, said he accepted the invitation to represent the party in the constituency after giving consideration to calls by “people” who wanted him to contest the seat.

“.people said that they wanted me to run and the (PNP) campaign committee asked me if I had an interest, and I said I would give it a try,” Clarke said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

A vice-president emeritus of the ruling PNP and the incumbent MP for North East St Elizabeth, Clarke announced two years ago that he would not contest any future general elections.

Subsequent to his announcement, the party installed the then parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Kern Spencer, as it’s representative in North East St Elizabeth.

Clarke, a seasoned politician and the current minister of agriculture and lands, has held the North East seat since 1989.

Last month, he was named as the PNP’s representative for Central Westmoreland in what has been described as a fractious selection process in the constituency.

So potentially explosive was the process, that Paul Buchanan, one of the contenders for the job, declared that he was not “backing down” in his quest to become the party’s representative for that constituency, when news broke that Clarke was eyeing the seat.

Additionally, there were at least two demonstrations in the constituency by PNP supporters who vowed not to support the party if Buchanan was not selected. Buchanan had, in September, fought off four other contenders to

come out ahead in the selection process, following incumbent MP Karl Blythe’s announcement that he was stepping down whenever the next general election was called.

But on the eve of the party’s announcement of its list of candidates to contest the next national polls, Buchanan threw in the towel and urged his supporters to rally around Clarke.

Political commentator Shalman Scott believes that Clarke’s decision to contest the seat was influenced by PNP president Portia Simpson Miller’s desire to place her loyalists in key constituencies with the hope of consolidating her leadership of the party.

Additionally, Scott, a former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) mayor, argues that Clarke’s decision may also be influenced by the desire to hold on to power.

“It cannot be an economic motivation because what an MP or a (government) minister earns within a year, when compared to what it costs to win a constituency these days, it would be bad economics to enter politics for economic reasons,” Scott argues.

Last week, Clarke told the Sunday Observer that the support for his candidacy in Central Westmoreland has been overwhelming and expressed confidence that he would win the seat by a margin of over 4,000 votes.

“The people in the constituency have been receptive to me,” he said. “So far, I have met with the divisional leaders, party supporters and the reception has been tremendous on the ground.”

He added that over the last two weeks, he has visited more than 18 communities and has had public meetings in districts such as Cornwall Mountain, Llandilo, Roaring River, Russia and Fort William.

But the JLP’s representative in the constituency, Russell Hammond, said he was not daunted by the installation of Clarke as the PNP’s representative.

Arguing that the Cabinet member has come to the constituency to “save the PNP” and not to serve, Hammond, a former MP for the area, is also confident of victory at the polls.

“The people have already made up their minds that they will be voting for me, so something dramatic would have to happen for me not to win,” said Hammond, who has been working in the area for more than a year.

He added, however, that he would not become complacent in his efforts to win the seat for the JLP.

Recent political polls in the constituency have reportedly shown Hammond with a 10 per cent lead over the PNP in the constituency.

But Scott believes that despite the PNP’s fractious selection process in the constituency, Clarke, with his political experience and personality, will galvanise enough support to win

the seat.

“What is likely to happen is that you will see Russell Hammond doing well, but Roger Clarke will hold that seat for the PNP,” said Scott.