THE leadership of the governing People’s National Party (PNP) says the status of the country’s economy is among several issues that party leader and prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, is expected to speak on when she addresses party faithfuls at its 77th Annual Conference next week.

The conference, which will have two private sessions and a public session, ending with a mass rally, is scheduled for September 18 to 20 at the National Arena in Kingston.

Addressing members of the media yesterday at the party’s Old Hope Road headquarters in St Andrew to launch the conference, party chairman Robert Pickersgill said Simpson Miller will use her presentation to focus on “the achievements and progress of the Government in reforming the Jamaican economy and setting the stage for greater economic development” when she speaks at the public session on the final day of the conference.

He said matters pertaining to the progress made in advancing education and social justice as critical planks in building an egalitarian society will also be addressed.

Simpson Miller is also expected to touch on contentious issues such as the state of the countys’ health system, as well as the abuse of the society’s most vulnerable.

He said the private sessions will concentrate on the work of the party for the 2014/2015 political year, as well as the organisational state of the party and election preparations.

At the same time, the party’s leadership remains mum as to whether a general election will be called before the end of this year.

“The announcement of a general election remains the prerogative of the leader of the party. I’m sure she will speak with members of the leadership and people on the ground as well as there will be other ways of finding out and determining the best time,” Pickersgill said when questioned about the likelihood of a general election being called this year.

And while he said the party is “very confident” should a general election be called now, having outlined a slew of achievements, he said there are some 15 months left, constitutionally, and that the prime minister will exercise wisdom when doing so.

As to whether the party is fazed by recent happenings in the region, where several Opposition parties have been successful at the polls, Pickersgill said that those victories were inevitable.

“In all of those instances, if I can recall, it was clear for everyone to see. In the Jamaican situation no such thing is clear,” he told the Jamaica Observer. The party’s leadership also insisted that Trinidad and Tobago’s recent ousting of the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led coalition People’s Partnership Government would not influence the announcement of an election.

Of the seven elections held since June last year, only Dominica’s ruling party and the ruling party of the British Virgin Islands were returned to power when voting ended.

Meanwhile, vice-president, Senator Angela Brown Burke, told the Observer that the party’s candidate selection process for the general election is almost complete.

“Several months ago we had given directives in terms of where we wanted to be. We always want to make sure that by the time we get to conference we are as ready as we can be.

“I acknowledge that there are a couple of seats where it’s contentious where there are some issues to be sorted out; we may or may not get those resolved for conference but I believe that the majority, over 90 per cent are in place,” Brown Burke said.