THE Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) should be in a position to reveal its new slate of officers this evening after one of the most anticipated meetings of its Central Executive in its history.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am at the JLP’s Belmont Road headquarters in St Andrew and should end by 5:00 pm when the party is scheduled to host a press briefing to make the announcements.

Unlike in previous years, when the positions decided by the Central Executive were of very little interest to the public, the intra-party rivalry aroused by the exciting leadership race three weeks ago between Andrew Holness and Audley Shaw has increased the appetites of conservative Labourites.

The most interesting race will certainly be that for chairman of the party — the person who normally presides over annual conferences and meetings of the Central Executive and the Standing Committee.

Last December, Senator Robert Montague, who had been acting in the post for almost a year after Mike Henry withdrew over the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme controversy, was elected to the post, defeating members of parliament Derrick Smith, Delroy Chuck and Edmund Bartlett.

Former General Secretary Aundre Franklin was elected deputy chairman over former Senator Arthur Williams, and MP for North West St James Dr Horace Chang easily defeated 2011 general election candidate Joan Gordon Webley to become general secretary.

It was obvious last year that Smith, the MP for North West St Andrew, who is now leader of government business in the House of Representatives and spokesman on national security, entered the race much too late to make any impression. However, this year, Smith was not only early out of the box, but has also won the backing of Team JLP, which carried home Holness to victory over Shaw in the November 10 leadership race.

Montague surprisingly swept to victory last year on the wings of a solid team of parish councillors, whose patronage he had nurtured while serving as minister with responsibility for local government in the last JLP Administration.

For this election, Smith has the support of his own son, Duane, who represents the Chancery Hall division in the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, and Deputy General Secretary Councillor Homer Davis (Cambridge division, St James), both members of Team JLP.

Party sources told the Jamaica Observer Friday that, while Team JLP were willing to back Montague challenging incumbent James Robertson for the position of deputy leader for Area Council 2 (St Catherine, St Mary, St Thomas and Portland), they are solidly backing Smith as being more capable to heal the wounds from the fractious leadership campaign.

Some Team JLP members are also accusing Montague of being selfish in refusing to focus on Area Council Two and the Western St Mary seat he lost in 2011, after one term, instead of the chairmanship.

“We need a chairman without any political ambitions, so we can focus on working together to win the next general election,” said one source.

However, despite several requests for him to relinquish his candidacy, Montague has insisted that he will contest the election today.

Deputy Chairman Franklin has been challenged by Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, an attorney-at-law and daughter of former leader of opposition business in the Senate Ambassador Anthony Johnson. She also has the support of Team JLP.

The other significant challenge today is that of Joan Gordon Webley, who is making a second attempt to replace Dr Chang as general secretary. Dr Chang defeated her by 86 votes to 58 last year, and party insiders say they expect him to increase his margin of victory this time.

Six persons are expected to challenge for the four deputy general secretary posts — incumbents Audley Gordon, Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, Homer Davis, Dr Andrew Wheatley, Richard Creary and Michael Stern, with Stern and Bartlett the least likely to make the final cut, according to party insiders.

There are two posts for which there are no challenges: veteran politician Karl Samuda is unopposed as treasurer; and attorney-at-law Leslie Campbell is unopposed as deputy treasurer.

There is expected to be only one change to the slate of Trustees, with Rudyard Spencer, who is expected to eventually become deputy leader for Area Council Three, being replaced by attorney-at-law George Soutar. The other trustees are Enid Bennett, Dorothy Carter Bradford, Oswald Harding and Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange.

Unfortunately, however, the party will still not have resolved the issue of selecting the four deputy leaders after today’s meeting, although the issue is expected to be a priority on the agenda of the Central Executive.

At this time there are two deputy leaders whose positions seem assured — Desmond McKenzie in Area Council One (Kingston and St Andrew), and Spencer in Area Council Three (Clarendon, St Ann and Manchester). With Dr Christopher Tufton withdrawing his candidacy for Area Council Four (St James, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover), JC Hutchinson has emerged the likely choice. However, the situation is very unclear in Area Council Two, with the Secretariat insisting that Robertson was not properly nominated and a challenge expected from either Dr Kenneth Baugh, Dr Wheatley or Grange, if Montague does not take it up.

The JLP’s Central Executive, numbering approximately 160, consists of party officers; MPs; senators; chairmen of registered constituency committees; chairmen and three other representatives of each Area Council; 15 representatives of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union; three representatives each from the affiliates; and three persons representing each of the parish councils and the KSAC.