THE ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) came out yesterday with gloves on, ready for political boxing matches that it will stage soon, and is predicting that it will be left standing tall at the end of the final bell.

Led at a news conference presentation, punctuated at times by evasive answers to some questions and short, snappy responses to others by its general secretary, Senator Aundre Franklin, the JLP stated that a soon-to-be-refined delegates list of roughly 5,000 persons will be entrusted to choose the next leader of the party, and ultimately prime minister on Saturday, November 19. The deadline for nominations is midnight October 20.

The party also moved swiftly to assure that only four of its 63-member slate of candidates for the next general election were not yet finalised.

“I am short two candidates and I have two under review. I will not disclose those at this point, but my duty as general secretary is to ensure that we win these seats,” Franklin told journalists at JLP headquarters on Belmont Road in St Andrew.

“There are two of those seats that would have an easier approach to it if we were to fine-tune some things. All options are open,” he added.

The news conference sought to address some of the lingering concerns about the party’s health, following the decision by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to step down as party leader and prime minister at the JLP annual conference in November.

Golding’s announcement — first made to the party’s Central Executive and then publicised by way of a news release last Sunday — left Jamaicans dumbstruck and ushered in a round of wild speculation as to his successor. It emerged later yesterday that Golding would address the nation in a national broadcast Sunday evening in which he is expected to give more details of his reasons for deciding to step down.

Franklin said that the new leader will be decided at the party’s all-island general council meeting at the National Arena, with voting expected to be at the adjacent National Indoor Sports Centre.

The polling exercise, which will begin at 11:30 am and end at 4:30 pm, will be managed by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, and the results will be available about an hour later, Franklin said.

“We have all hands on deck. We started off a little bit unsettled, but assurances have been given that everyone will co-operate to ensure that we have a smooth transition and Jamaica will continue to see the Jamaica Labour Party as the party of their choice,” he said.

“To that extent, there will be no chances, no waivers … the party’s rules and regulations will be brought to bear on anyone or any group of individuals who so decide to bring the party in dispute. We anticipate a pleasant, unified, dynamic and, for the People’s National Party, a frightening result,” Franklin said.

The JLP general secretary said that it was expected that the party’s code of conduct would be fully adhered to.

A team, he said, has been established to monitor campaigning activities in constituencies. The constituencies will feed into a parish manager, which ties directly with the area councils, and connects with the deputy general secretaries and the general secretary, he said.

The party’s trustees — Enid Bennett, Dr Mavis Gilmour, Ossie Harding, Ruddy Spencer and Dr Neville Gallimore — will monitor the expressions of candidates and determine whether or not they conform to the party’s regulations.

Franklin also said that the Disputes Resolution Committee, headed by Laurie Broderick, and the Organisation Committee, headed by Russell Hadeed, would also be enforced.

Asked if he thought that a new leader would lift the fortunes and profile of the party, Franklin said: “I think that each leader lays another layer and any new leader with the team that is here can only make the Jamaica Labour Party stronger.”