HOPEWELL, Hanover – D K Duncan says his decision to return to representational politics was influenced by his involvement in the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) presidential race that ended in February.

“My decision stems directly from my involvement in the Omar Davies campaign for president. It stems directly from that,” stressed Duncan, who served as the PNP’s minister of mobilisation in the Michael Manley-led administration of the 1970s. “I rekindled some relationships across the country (during the campaign) which I had with a lot of PNP people, and the way that the campaign was conducted people felt that I could make a contribution to the party.”

Duncan, 65, was the field co-ordinator for Davies’ ‘Campaign for Prosperity’ during the party’s internal election which ended with Portia Simpson Miller winning over Dr Peter Phillips, the national security minister; Dr Karl Blythe and Davies, the finance minister.

Duncan is one of two former PNP Cabinet ministers who have decided to come out of retirement to contest parliamentary seats in the party’s Region Six, which covers the parishes of Hanover, St James and Westmoreland.

The other is former tourism minister Francis Tulloch, who has held parliamentary seats in the constituencies of North West St James, Central St James, the West Central St James and Eastern Hanover.

On Friday, Duncan explained that during the presidential race Davies’ team had made a commitment that they would “see out to the end” a number of issues affecting communities in the constituency of Eastern Hanover. Among them, he said, was the controversial development of a cemetery at Ramble.

“Arising out of this, a number of people in the constituency put up a lot of pressure for me to run there,” he said.

Additionally, he said that he was convinced that none of the PNP aspirants who were offering themselves to represent the Eastern Hanover constituency could win in the upcoming general election.

“…. when they (PNP) put the case to me in relation to a winnable candidate, I did not see anybody. The only person I could think of who could win it was Francis Tulloch,” he stressed.

Tulloch, however, did not express an interest in the seat but former mayor of Lucea, Lloyd Hill, who unsuccessfully contested the seat in the 2002 general election, and mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, Deflord Morgan, were among the aspirants vying to become the party’s candidate.

Last month, when Duncan was named as the PNP’s representative in the constituency, political pundits in the region argued that the party stood to benefit significantly from his organisational skills.

A former general-secretary of the PNP, Duncan, a dentist by profession, has served the party in various other capacities for almost three decades.

He was the campaign manager for the party in the 1976 and 1980 general elections and also served as MP for East Central St Andrew from 1976 to 1983.

In addition, the ex-MP who flirted with the New Beginning Movement and the fledgling National Democratic Movement (NDM), also served as campaign manager for the North West and South West constituencies in St Ann.

Political commentator Lloyd B Smith told the Observer on Friday that he was not surprised that Duncan was named as the party’s candidate in the constituency, arguing that the ex-MP always wanted to be involved in the political process.

“Deep down D K is a political animal and has always wanted to be involved,” Smith said. “It’s just that he was alienated from the PNP, especially with a PJ Patterson (former PNP president) there.

Remember that he moved into the NDM which did not gain any traction, so clearly he has been looking around for a little niche for himself.”

Smith added that Duncan’s high profile and national image would result in a high voter turnout in the constituency in the next general election.

“He (Duncan) will energise the constituency to the extent where if there is any level of complacency, I am sure that by his very presence he will pull out not just PNP but JLP supporters to vote,” Smith said. “I am predicting a very good voter turnout, and this augurs well for the constituency because people will become more politically aware and more involved in the process.”

Arguing that the seat is very unpredictable, Smith said, however, that he would not at “this time” predict which party will win the contest.

“If you look at the history of Eastern Hanover it has switched from one party to another over a period of time, so at this stage it would not be prudent to predict, suffice it to say that whichever candidate wins will benefit from a national swing,” said Smith.

Incumbent Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MP for the area, Barrington Gray, who won the seat in the 2002 national poll with a majority of 736 over Hill, is however confident that he will win the seat again by a wider majority.

“I am very confident that I will win by no less than 1,500 votes,” Gray said, adding that since his 2002 victory in which 63 per cent of the electors voted, he has become very popular in the constituency.

Duncan, however, believes that although Gray is a “nice man” he lacks the ability to make proper representation. Duncan is therefore predicting that he will win the contest by 1,100 votes.

Up to September, there were just under 17,900 electors in the constituency.

cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com