THE Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) said a social is being planned which, it is hoped, will help to heal the emotional wounds from a bitter internal leadership election which ended with Andrew Holness being returned with 2,704 votes over his challenger Audley Shaw’s 2,012.

Holness said the idea for the event was proposed by Shaw during a recent meeting.

“Mr Shaw had suggested in my meeting with him that we put on a social, and I have asked Mr (Daryl) Vaz to organise it and make arrangements to make it happen,” Holness told reporters and editors at last Thursday’s Jamaica Observer Press Club held at the newspaper’s head offices in St Andrew.

As part of further extending the olive branch in uniting the party, which has been divided by the contest, Holness said, as of Friday, November 15, he would start a series of meetings with members of the Shaw camp.

“These will be a series of meetings, face to face, where it is not just telephone conversation, but people are able to read body language and understand if the assurances I am giving are true,” Holness explained.

According to Holness, he has also called and spoken with the senior members of the Shaw team individually.

He noted that, while he will be meeting mostly with members of the Shaw team, he will also be meeting with members of his team to assure them that their hard work will not be forgotten.

“Persons from my team have made sacrifices; they went out there put their own career on the line to support me, so I also have to meet with them and give them the assurance,” he said.

Holness said, too, that while there is a process of healing, politics is dynamic.

“We have just completed the leadership race, but there will be elections now for the post of officers of the party. So, whilst the public may not be aware of this, there are other dynamics at play which will make people posture and position in the public because there are also these other contests coming up,” Holness said.

Those who claim unity, Holness said, must understand it is not only the leader who has a duty to unify, but those who were contesting as well.

“I want to assure the delegates that I understand the mandate that you have given me. The mandate is not to go through any cleansing or purging; the mandate is to put in place the people, the systems and the rules that will make the party strong,” he said.

“Make no mistake about it, a political party is based on loyalty. It is a voluntary group and people come together for a voluntary cause, and they have to be loyal to the cause. Once you have covered the issue of loyalty you can then move to competence,” Holness said, adding that the cause of disunity is disloyalty.