Generation 2000 (G2K) yesterday threw its support behind Daryl Vaz for the position of general secretary of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), signalling that the increasingly public push against ageing politicians was intensifying.

G2K, the group of young professionals affiliated to the JLP, insisted that there was need for renewal inside the 67-year-old JLP, but sought to cushion the body blow it delivered to current general secretary Karl Samuda by paying homage to his years of service.

G2K said it “continues to have the very highest respect for his dedication, hard work and superb organisational skills that in part led the JLP from out of 18 1/2 years in the political wilderness”.

The group also said it valued highly Samuda’s mentorship of many young persons in and outside G2K and added that he had “earned the highest respect for his stewardship as a parliamentarian, minister of government and general secretary of the JLP”.

“Mr Samuda enjoys the unwavering support of G2K in any capacity he serves the JLP and the people of Jamaica, however in the interest of renewal and the continued need for the best interest of the party to come to the fore, we believe that Daryl Vaz should be given the opportunity to impressively manage, effectively lead and appropriately delegate as he has always done,” the group said.

The group’s public endorsement of rising star Vaz in a news release, comes a days after Samuda, who had initially indicated that he would not seek re-election, reversed his decision, throwing the oft-divided party into a fresh round of dispute.

The battle-scarred Samuda, who has served the party for decades, said his change of mind was in response to urging by other party stalwarts who feared the JLP was on the brink of another bitter round of internal squabble.

According to G2K, it took its decision after meetings with the management committee of the organisation and broad discourse with its wide membership here and overseas over the last few weeks.

“This position is further reinforced after vigorous consultation with all levels of the party, from grassroots to leadership, who overwhelmingly agreed that renewal is necessary for a successful re-election effort,” the organisation said.

The general secretary election is normally held at the first meeting of the party’s Central Executive after its annual conference in November. G2K has three of the close to 100 members on the executive. However, the group has some amount of influence in the party, having played a major role in its successful election campaign in 2007 with sharp and biting advertising, as well as heavy networking on the Internet and social media.

Vaz, the son of former JLP government minister Douglas Vaz and currently minister of information, had indicated his interest in the position shortly after the JLP was plunged into controversy after long-time member and attorney Harold Brady denied JLP leader and prime minister Bruce Golding’s declaration that he (Brady) was no longer a member of the party and that he had been asked to resign from the boards of State agencies on which he sat.

Golding had made the announcement at a news conference last month where he answered questions relating to the extradition of former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and the party’s hiring of US law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips to lobby the US Government on the extradition matter.

Brady’s denial of the prime minister’s announcement sent the party into an emergency meeting, after which Samuda told journalists that although Brady had not paid his membership fees, this did not prevent the lawyer from remaining a party member.

Samuda said that the prime minister was unaware of this fact when he made his announcement, a statement that has boomeranged as he was blamed for allowing the prime minister to make such an error.

Since then, Brady has sued the prime minister, claiming libel in his statement, and Samuda has been taking a battering from the pro-Golding faction of the party.

Yesterday, G2K said that Vaz had exemplified himself as a team player, high performer and organiser who was “sufficiently imbued with the appropriate interpersonal skills that will effectively blend energy with the experience of party elders”.

The JLP, the group said, will “no doubt benefit from his very sharp political and management acumen and his untiring desire to see the JLP and our beloved country move to the very zenith of effective management, efficiency, organisation and success”.

Added G2K: “Further yet, Mr Vaz’s candidacy marks a critical turning point in the history of the JLP as it represents renewal and change.”

Late last month, G2K pointed to the election of 40-year-old Ed Miliband as the new leader of the United Kingdom Labour Party to reinforce its position that Jamaica’s political landscape was “jammed tight with the outdated past”.

“It is high time several of our older politicians seriously consider throwing in the towel,” G2K said in a release, reiterating a view it first put forward in a Sunday Observer report in August on the reluctance of old politicians to go into retirement.

But JLP and the Opposition People’s National Party insiders told the Sunday Observer that after the publication of that story, the youngsters affiliated to both parties were scolded for making their views known.