KINGSTON, Jamaica – The decision by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) for North Eastern St Catherine, Gregory Mair, not to contest the next general election is expected to be one of the main issues on the table, when the party’s Standing Committee meets at Belmont Road on Monday meundevening.

This was confirmed by JLP general secretary, Dr Horace Change, on Sunday, in answer to questions raised by OBSERVER ONLINE.

However, reacting to a release from a constituency executive committee member, Omar Francis, which stated that they have already identified a replacement for Mair, Chang said that he was not aware of that but was not surprised.

“It wouldn’t be surprising that the constituency executive would want to get on with the job of selecting a replacement as quickly as possible. But, I am not aware of who the prospective candidate referred to is,” he added. Francis has withheld the name of replacement,

Chang said the party should know when the issue is discussed tonight at the weekly meeting of the party’s powerful Standing Committee.

According to yesterday’s release from Francis, the JLP’s St Catherine North Eastern constituency executive “while expressing sadness and regret at Mair’s decision to resign as constituency chairman and to not seek re-election at the next polls”, said its election machinery is in place and has been activated.

Mair, who has resigned as chairman of the constituency executive to allow for the selection of a successor, attributed his decision to the need to pay more attention to his personal life and family business. However, some critics contend that Mair was likely to lose the seat if he ran.

The MP, whose full name is Desmond Gregory Mair, is the son of the founder of the Desmond  Mair insurance Brokers firm, which recently expanded into housing development.

Mair’s family is historically associated with the JLP. His grandfather, Gerald Mair, was a JLP senator and treasurer of the party. The younger Mair was one of the members of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) who returned to the JLP with former Prime Minister Bruce Golding in 2003.

Balford Henry