NOMINATION Day proceedings went smoothly for the South East St Andrew and East Kingston and Port Royal seats, with a total of five persons being nominated to contest the August 27 elections.

At Campion College, the incumbent People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for SE St Andrew, Maxine Henry-Wilson, accompanied by a throng of party supporters, showed up at minutes to the 10:00 am opening time, and was nominated without incident. She paid her fees to returning officer Paul McCallum in three $1,000 bills.

At approximately 1:15 pm, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Joan Gordon-Webley was nominated, paying her fees in $100 bills.

Vowing to take the seat “resoundingly”, come August 27,

Gordon-Webley charged that her opponent cared more about the education minister portfolio than the constituency.

“She wants to be the next minister of education, not the next MP,” Gordon-Webley said.

“The people are smart, they know that Maxine is the one who said [during the PNP presidency race] not to take any chances with Portia,” she added, and promised to make employment and education a prime mandate for her constituency when she takes power.

Henry-Wilson, who is facing a huge challenge to retain her seat in Parliament from this veteran campaigner, had outlined her passion for retaining her ministerial office at a recent Grade Six Achievement Test awardee luncheon. She said then that she wanted to continue as education minister after the elections in order to continue the transformation of the education system.

Yesterday, she told the Observer that she was “optimistic, but not complacent”, and was committed to serving both her constituency and Jamaica, and was campaigning on her merits.

Regarding the smooth flow of activities, she said that this was indicative of the route the party wanted to take.

“Our theme was peace,” she said.

Both parties were accompanied by a moderate gathering of supporters, who stuck to the 100-yards-away rule enforced by the police and Jamaica Defence Force soldiers. In both camps, there were brief instances where traffic piled up because supporters were blocking Old Hope Road, but this was quickly cleared by the police and army officers who were out in their numbers.

After Henry-Wilson’s nomination, she was greeted by supporters with loud roars of approval. Orange balloons were released in the air.

For her part, Gordon-Webley said she had walked all the way from her constituency, and after the nomination, her float, complete with gyrating cheerleaders, travelled down Old Hope Road, bells chiming.

Meanwhile, nominations for the East Kingston and Port Royal constituencies got underway incident-free at the Windward Road Primary and Junior High School, returning officer Garth Kiddoe said.

Phillip Paulwell, the PNP candidate, was nominated at 10:45 am, the JLP’s Peter Sangster at 11:30 am, and the NDM’s Opal Slater at 12:40 pm.