KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former member of Parliament, Sharon Hay Webster, has expressed renewed interest in representing the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in North Eastern St Catherine.

In a letter earlier today to JLP general secretary, Dr Horace Chang, Hay Webster said she wished to renew interest in becoming the JLP candidate for the constituency, in light of the decision by current MP, the JLP’s Gregory Mair not to run again.

“This renewed interest is also registered in light of the response to my initial application, submitted earlier this year, wherein I received correspondence from your office which stated that my application was to quote ‘not favourably considered at this time’  by the selection committee,” Hay Webster said.

She added that her interest in the seat is primarily two-fold: (1) a wish to secure victory for the party; and, (2) having been invited by constituents, across the seat, to serve as a representative repeatedly since 2012.

Hay Webster was a three-term South Central St Catherine MP (1997 to 2012) representing the PNP. However, her third term was marred by a controversy over her United States citizenship, leading to her resignation from the PNP and becoming a member of the JLP in 2011.

In April, a conflict developed between her and reigning JLP MP for North Eastern St Catherine, Gregory Mair, who claimed that she was interfering in his constituency in a bid to unseat him. The issue was resolved when Opposition Leader Andrew Holness intervened and asked Hay Webster to back down.

However, with Mair pulling out of the next general election, Hay Webster says her knowledge and “wide acceptance across the constituency” should be enough to beat the PNP’s Phyllis Mitchell, a former MP for the constituency who is expected to be the governing party’s candidate.

Chang told OBSERVER ONLINE last night that the issues concerning the constituency’s candidate will be discussed by the party’s Standing Committee this evening at Belmont Road.

Balford Henry