KARL Blythe will today relinquish the chairmanship of the Central Westmoreland constituency, but is staying on as member of parliament until general elections are called.

Blythe, the People’s National Party MP for the constituency, has been chairman for the constituency organisation since 1985.

A former minister of water and housing, he announced last year that he would not be available to contest the seat once the general elections are called, after expressing his disappointment when he was not named in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller last year April.

He had resigned from the P J Patterson Cabinet prior to the 2002 general elections, following controversy surrounding the government housing project, Operation Pride.

He was, however, cleared after investigations into the operations of the project and subsequently offered himself as a candidate in last year’s presidential election for the People’s National Party, won by Simpson Miller.

Blythe served the party for 22 years at various levels, including that of vice-president for Region 6.

The PNP last year named Roger Clarke, the agriculture minister, as its new man in Central Westmoreland.