THE Government, up to late last night, kept the country in the dark over the new date for the general elections, dragging the country closer to a possible major crisis over the September 3 date proposed by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ).

“If I don’t have a new date by tomorrow (today), I have a huge problem on my hands,” Director of Elections Danville Walker told the Observer last night. “As far as the law is concerned, the election is not yet postponed.”

Walker said that he was not sure if the governor-general’s proclamation could be issued on a Saturday or a Sunday, but said he was still awaiting the proclamation of the new date for the elections.

The elections were originally scheduled for Monday, August 27, but were postponed following the passage of Hurricane Dean south of Jamaica on Sunday. Category four strength Dean caused three deaths, extensive damage and left the island without electricity. Members of the security forces and election day workers should have voted on Tuesday, August 21. They are now set to vote next Tuesday, August 28, according to the recommendation of the Electoral Commission.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s failure to name the new election date in her national broadcast on Wednesday night has also increased concerns and triggered media reports yesterday of Cabinet being divided over the date.

However, although the reports were later denied by spokesmen for the Cabinet, it was clear yesterday that there was a division within the Government over the date.

Last night, the situation seemed to have deteriorated to the point where there is now a possibility that the selected or independent members of the commission, which is headed by Professor Errol Miller, could resign if their proposed September 3 election date is changed.

Professor Miller could not be contacted last night, but his fellow selected member, Dr Herbert Thompson, admitted that resignation was a possibility.

“Maybe that is a likelihood,” Dr Thompson told the Observer. “We have not sat down and arrived at that position yet, but if the date we have recommended is rejected, it would be a clean break with the practice of tradition.”

Walker, himself, seemed very uncomfortable with the possibility of the Government naming another date.

“Nothing they do would surprise me, because they (politicians) believe in party first… It is very difficult for me to become a victim of that,” he said.

Traditionally, unanimously reached positions of the tripartite commission, comprised of representatives of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP), the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and selected/independent persons, are accepted by the politicians without amendment.

Walker conceded last night that the commission may have blundered in its letter to the Cabinet, allowing an opening, which political sources say was being exploited by members of the Cabinet who support a further delay.

That opening is reflected in the letter stating that September 3 was “the earliest date” possible for the holding of elections.

Those wishing to change the date are saying that the term gives the Cabinet the latitude to name any date from September 3 on. But the ECJ says that is not what it meant.

Walker said that as the process of agreeing on a date progressed, it became clear that a definite date had to be recommended.

He said that the original letter to Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall gave September 3 as the earliest date, which would have been sufficient as the proposed date. But, he felt, the commission should have been more definite when it came to writing the Cabinet.

“If we had known from the beginning that we would be writing to the Cabinet we would have left no room for doubt,” Walker said.

He also pointed out that the date originally agreed to by the ECJ was for elections on Thursday, August 30.

“I made it clear to everyone that a Monday would be in the best interest of the electoral system and the Monday (September 3) was agreed. When we got the Monday, I thought it was a stroke of good luck,” he said.

He explained that since Sundays are normally non-working days for most people, it allowed the EOJ to better prepare the system for the following day. He added that there were 700 polling stations which needed electronic equipment and some 4,000 workers who needed placement.

However, he said that his main concern now was for a date to be named by today.

“I will take any Monday, but I believe that the third would be best as there would be no school,” Walker said.

Yesterday, during a late evening tour of hurricane damage in St Elizabeth, Simpson Miller, when asked for an update on the election date issue, said “people should stop speculating and inciting”, an apparent reference to talk of a rift in the Cabinet.

“I see people trying to feed the country with things that did not happen,” she said. “When I heard about Cabinet today, I am wondering if that’s the Cabinet I presided over today. One thing I know in the Cabinet, we are all united around ensuring that we work with the people at this time to see how we can bring some level of not only calm, but to bring assistance to them.”

Asked whether the new election would be announced by King’s House, Simpson Miller replied, “At the appropriate time you will hear. It’s now referred to the Cabinet of the country. We have been meeting regularly to assess what is happening and to take decisions and we met today again and whatever will come, the country will be advised properly.”