TWO weeks after St Andrew East Rural delegates rejected incumbent Member of Parliament Damion Crawford as the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for the pending general elections, the party is said to have offered to keep the young politician as its standard-bearer for that constituency.

However, a source close to the discussions told the Jamaica Observer that Crawford rejected the offer — which was made last week during a three-day party retreat at the RIU Hotel in Ocho Rios, St Ann to discuss campaign strategies — and asked for a safe seat.

The Observer was told that the Trelawny North constituency, currently held by fellow Comrade Patrick Atkinson, was offered to Crawford as a compromise and that a final decision would be made subsequently.

The Observer was unable to reach Crawford for a comment yesterday, as calls to his phone went unanswered.

At the same time, there is no official word as to whether the PNP will keep Atkinson, who is the attorney general, in Trelawny North, but his supporters last Wednesday staged a demonstration, claiming that moves were afoot to replace him with aspirant J P White.

During a selection exercise on October 4 to determine who would represent the PNP in the St Andrew East Rural constituency in the pending general election, businessman Peter Blake polled 217 of the delegate votes to Crawford’s 166, defeating the embattled but nationally popular MP.

Yesterday, Blake, who was absent from the three-day retreat, said he was unaware of the discussions surrounding Crawford.

“As far as the seat being offered to Damion Crawford, I know nothing of that,” he said.

At the same time, Blake said his absence from the meeting was no fault of his.

“I was the very last person interviewed, so I would imagine that they would have been unable to put forward the report,” Blake explained. “I was one of quite a few who were not there. So it’s not me alone,” he added.