MONTEGO BAY, St James — Lloyd B Smith, the chief executive officer of the Montego Bay-based Western Mirror, has acceded to the request of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) to contest the redefined constituency of Central St James on the party’s ticket in the next general elections, constitutionally due in September 2012.

“I have accepted the invitation and so I am now waiting for the party to ratify my candidacy… so right now I am a prospective candidate,” the 64-year-old Smith told the Observer yesterday.

A week ago, the newspaper publisher — who unsuccessfully contested the South St James constituency in the 1997 general elections for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) — told the Observer that he had “been approached and asked” by the PNP to contest the seat.

At the time, Smith said that he was giving himself until the end of July to decide.

Yesterday, he pointed out that the party was made aware of his decision on the weekend, adding that later this week he will be applying for membership in the party, as well as to be its candidate for the seat in the upcoming polls.

Efforts to contact the hierarchy of the PNP yesterday for comment were unsuccessful.

Yesterday, Smith made it clear that if his candidacy is ratified by the PNP, he would step down from his current post of editor-in-chief at the Western Mirror, a thrice-weekly publication.

“Once I become the official candidate, I will be taking leave of absence as the editor-in-chief. In other words, I will have no influence whatsoever on the editorial decisions of the newspaper,” he explained.

He added that he had made it clear to the PNP that the newspaper will not become a PNP mouthpiece.

“The Western Mirror will not be any political organisation. It will remain totally balanced and objective, so if there is anybody in the PNP who believes that the Mirror will be there for them, I have bad news for them,” he asserted.

The Central St James constituency — which encompasses downtown Montego Bay, the tough inner-city communities of Salt Spring, Canterbury and Rose Heights — is one of two constituencies across the island in which the PNP is 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. There are 63 constituencies.

Smith, who is also former president of the powerful Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a political commentator, has long been critical of the political leadership in the parish of St James.

“A number of persons who have asked me to run say they feel that Montego Bay has lacked proper representation, and that I am the best man for the job. So it is against that background that I have decided to offer myself,” he argued.

Two months ago, 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 Central St James.