PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Wayne Cummings said the long wait Jamaicans have before going to the polls could have a negative impact on the summer tourist season.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on Sunday announced that Nomination Day for the polls would be on August 7, and the election on August 27- seven weeks from now.

Said Cummings yesterday: “I am disappointed that we will have to wait for such a long time before the elections are held because persons could seek the opportunity to create mischief during the campaigning period. This is the summer time and children are travelling; and so persons may become concerned and look elsewhere because there is campaigning.”

He said he would have preferred if the polls were held before the start of next month.

“If it was completed by July, we would have at least August to get a bounce in business before the foreign travellers go back to school,” Cummings said.

However, he did not have the support of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA).

“I don’t see why it should affect the business sector because election is just a day of going in and casting your votes,” Omar Azan, president of the JMA, told the Observer. “Life goes on whichever government is in power. I do not see what the big deal is all about.”

At the same time, Azan appealed to members of both political parties to ensure that the elections are safe and transparent.

“I just hope that all members of parliament on both sides continue to ask the Jamaican public on a whole to keep it safe, keep it fair and keep it transparent,” said Azan.

Marjory Kennedy, president of the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA), also said the date set for the election should not negatively affect the country,

“We don’t see any adverse effects; I think people will just be relieved to get it over with,” she said.

She, too, hoped that violence will not affect the campaign. “I am optimistic that we are going to have a quiet election,” she said.

At the same time, Kennedy appealed to businesses to remain open on election day. “People will be giving staff time off in order to go and vote, but those businesses should not be closed,” she said. “I would never tell my membership to close nor would I be closing my business, definitely not. We would be sending the wrong signal to the people and the international community.,” said the JEA president.

Financial analyst John Jackson also said the seven-week wait for the election should not affect business.

“I don’t know if it is going to have any more adverse effect. At least one uncertainty (the election date) has been put to bed, it appears, unless the prime minister changes her mind…” Jackson said. “I don’t see it affecting the economy any worse than it has before. I think everything will just carry on as it was all year long.

He was, however, concerned that there could be an upsurge in violence during the prolonged election period.

Over the past months, both major political parties – the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) – have stepped up their campaigning activities. But with the heightened campaign activities have come an increase in violent incidents over the past few weeks.

Yesterday, Cummings urged both parties to ensure that the campaign is not marred by political violence, even as he acknowledged that there was “a lot to be lost and a lot to be gained politically for both parties”.