SPEAKERS at yesterday’s public session of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) 77th Annual Conference used the platform to urge comrades to end internal strife, spread the message of the government’s achievement and promote voter registration.

General secretary of the party Paul Burke said Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller raised the issue of the indiscipline being displayed within the ranks of the PNP, during her address to delegates at Saturday’s private session of the conference.

According to Burke, Simpson Miller also warned against indiscipline among the party’s political representatives.

“The president made it clear, that she will not be allowing the few who are bent on being indiscipline to damage the image and integrity of the party,” he told the conference during his brief report.

In a press interview which followed the conference, Simpson Miller expressed dissatisfaction with the conflicts which have developed in some constituencies, suggesting that they should not have happened.

“The rules have to be observed,” she said, adding that if there was a challenge it should be brought to the proper internal machinery to deal with such issues.

“Some of what happened should not have happened,” she said.

In his speech to the party, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson urged that it was a time for healing.

“The message I want to leave with you today, hear me, this is a time to heal. I repeat it is a time for healing,” Patterson told the crowd.

Turning to Ecclesiastes for spiritual guidance, Patterson said that there was enough “balm” within the party to heal the political wounds.

“Yes, there is balm, and you the delegates are going to ensure that the good health of our party is restored and every member, every comrade, every constituency leader, will have to join with Sister P and her team in making sure that we get it together, again,” the former prime minister said.

Indications coming out of yesterday’s conference are that a general election is some months off.

Burke, in his report, highlighted the urgent need for increased voter registration to meet the September 30 deadline for registration for the next voters’ list, scheduled to be released on November 30. This list will be effective up to May, 2016, suggesting the unlikelihood of an election prior to 2016.

In a recent release, the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (EOJ) warned that electors who register after September 30, will have to wait until May, 2016 to be added to the voters’ list, and will not be eligible to vote should an election be called before then.

While registration is continuous, the ECJ updates the voters’ list every six months, on May 31 and November 30 of each year. The cut-off date for each list is two months prior to publication, to facilitate processing of applicants, hence the September deadline. Persons who meet the November 30 registration deadline should expect to receive their ID cards by mid-December.

The ECJ has also urged persons to visit their EOJ constituency office to complete the process, in order to be added to the November 30 list.

The voters’ list now stands at 1,793,039, as published on May 31, 2015. To be eligible for registration the person must be a Jamaican, or Commonwealth citizen, at least 18 years of age, and must be ordinarily resident in Jamaica for at least 12 months prior to registration.

In summing up, Burke said that there were 13 workshops over the two days of private consultations at the conference, including workshops on issues like reorganising and reactivating PNP groups. However, he admitted that they were unable to complete the party’s “ambitious” agenda.

But, he suggested that, in the meantime, every “comrade” should be responsible for recruitment, enumeration and canvassing, as well as carrying the party’s message.

“We are preparing for the race, but let it be absolutely clear, we are not on the race track as yet. Our coach is the party president, our trainer is the campaign director, Comrade Peter Phillips, and the starter is the prime minister the Most Hon Portia Simpson Miller,” Burke said.

“Our starter is yet to put us on our marks, and when that time comes, even in our anxiety, we will not pick the start…The PNP will not false start. So, the process is, get on your marks, get ready and go and the go can only come from the leader. Until then it is only preparation, preparation, preparation,” he added.

Simpson Miller, in closing the conference, urged the faithful to spread the message of her government’s economic and social achievements, while they await an election date.