MONTEGO BAY, St James – PUBLISHER Lloyd B Smith is to decide by Monday whether to contest the redefined constituency of St James Central on the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP’s) ticket in the next general elections.

There have been rumours that Smith, who unsuccessfully ran in South St James on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket in the 1997 general elections, is being courted by the PNP to contest the upcoming polls, constitutionally due in September 2012.

In an interview with the Observer West earlier this week, he confirmed he has been “approached and asked by the PNP” to contest the seat, but said he had told them he needed time to consider the matter fully before making a decision.

“Nothing has been finalised as yet, but I have given myself until July 31 to come to a clear-cut decision,” he explained.

The Central St James constituency, which encompasses downtown Montego Bay, Salt Spring and Canterbury, is one of two of 63 constituencies across the island in which the PNP are yet to install candidates for the next general elections. The other is Central Clarendon, which has been represented by the JLP’s Mike Henry since 1976.

Deputy general secretary for the PNP Julian Robinson told the Observer West that a candidate for the Central St James seat will be in place before the party’s annual conference in September.

While noting that the party is in dialogue with “an individual” about that seat, he said he was not prepared “at this time” to disclose the name of the person. Robinson added that the party is trying to identify “the person most suited for the job”.

“It’s best to spend a little more time to find the right person than to put someone who is not suited in there,” Robinson argued.

Meanwhile, Smith said many persons believe he would be a good political representative, “hence they have been beseeching me to run”.

“A number of persons who have asked me to run say they feel that Montego Bay has lacked proper representation. In this particular constituency (St James Central), the individual that has been selected by the JLP, they do not feel that person can effectively represent Montego Bay and so they feel that it is somebody like myself who should take on the job,” he argued.

Last month, the governing JLP announced that Heroy Clarke, veteran councillor for the Rose Heights Division of the St James Parish Council would be the party’s standard bearer in the constituency.

Smith argued on Monday that “they seem to be a sort of vacuum in terms of the leadership” coming out of the resort city, despite the fact that Water, Housing and Environment Minister Dr Horace Chang and Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett represent constituencies in St James.

“A lot of people still feel that these gentlemen (Bartlett and Chang) have not stepped up to the plate in terms of representing Montego Bay and its particular interest, so it is in that context that I was approached,” said Smith, also a former president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“If I were to accede to the many requests that I am getting (to run) then it would be clearly to serve the community of Montego Bay and by extension the nation. But certainly, I would not want to be seen as any party animal going out there to be part and parcel on any select tribe. I am not into the narrow tribalistic approach to politics,” he said.

The redefined Central St James seat brings to five the number of constituencies in the parish.

In the 2007 general elections, the JLP won the constituencies of North West St James, East Central St James and West Central St James, while the South St James constituency was won by the PNP.

All the JLP members of Parliament in the parish are members of the Bruce Golding Cabinet.