BY BALFORD HENRY

Senior staff reporter

balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com

JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) General Secretary Dr Horace Chang says that the process used to select Franklin Witter as the party’s candidate/caretaker in South East St Elizabeth, is the most democratic available to the political parties.

“We sought to ensure that all party workers participate — indoor and outdoor agents, runners and supervisors, and so on — because they are the ones who manage the constituency on an ongoing basis,” Dr Chang told the Jamaica Observer after the votes were counted in Sunday’s consultative poll that resulted in a huge victory for Witter.

More than 500 JLP workers, of the nearly 700 eligible, turned out in the four divisions — Junction, Malvern, Southfield and Myersville — to give Witter a convincing victory of 258 votes to 156 for nearest rival, educator James Folkes’ who polled 156 votes.

England-born educator Sheila Pryce Brooks got 36 votes, and last-placed Rex Walker, a businessman, received 27 votes.

The process was supervised by a team, led by JLP deputy general secretary and parish councillor, Homer Davis (Anchovy, St James). He was assisted by Kingston and

St Andrew Corporation councillors, Delroy Williams (Seiveright Gardens, Kingston) and Winston Ennis (Waterloo, St Andrew).

After the results were phoned into the main counting centre, BB Coke High School in Junction, they were released by Davis’s team.

Witter won the seat for the JLP in 2007 by defeating Norman Horne of the People’s National Party (PNP), but lost it to PNP newcomer Richard Parchment, who up to then represented the Myersville division in 2011.

Witter said that he was not surprised by the margin of his victory, as he was confident that he would win the consultative vote easily.

“Now, all we need to do is to unite as ‘labourites’ because, you know, it is quite normal that after an internal challenge, you have differences among delegates. But I am going to unite everybody to ensure that we succeed, because the real purpose is beat the PNP,” he said.

Witter said that he was determined to return to Parliament to complete a 10-mile water pipeline which he started in his first term, but which has been left to rot since he left Gordon House in 2011.

“I have to ensure that it is restarted and get water flowing into the constituency. That will be my main focus, and finding markets for agricultural produce from farmers in the constituency,” he told the Observer.

Dr Chang admitted that Witter may not be as strong in the other parish council divisions as he is in his home base of Junction, which was evident during the consultation.

“We got a good reflection on the constituency, based on the number of persons who participated in the process. There are issues in the constituency, and we feel that we can settle down and unite to win. But, Witter has to ensure that he unites the people, including those who didn’t vote for him. A united JLP in South East St Elizabeth will win the seat,” Chang stated.

“It’s a constituency that we not only can win, but we must win, and we are aware that we can win it,” Chang concluded.