NOMINATION Day in St Thomas Western could easily have been mistaken for a carnival road march as supporters of both political parties donned their colours and took to the streets with their vuvuzella and bells, and a marching band in one instance, to support their respective candidates for the February 25 General Election.

Motorists were forced to yield to jubilant supporters who took over the streets in Yallahs square hours before the candidates were due to arrive at the centres to be duly nominated. T-shirts were cut to show parts of the body and the tiniest of shorts were on display, as well as the latest dance moves, as supporters gyrated to the lyrics blaring from booming sound systems.

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters took up their positions in the square a busload at a time, and by minutes to 1:00pm, when the incumbent James Robertson arrived to make his way to the nomination centre, the crowd had swelled to include a float (a trailer decorated in green, packed with dancing girls). A marching band played during the approximately 10-minute walk to the Yallahs Primary School where Robertson was to be nominated as the JLP’s candidate for St Thomas Western. With the overladen float bringing up the rear, the Labourites swelled into the street causing motorists to abandon any effort of getting by and forcing many to stop where they were and allow the throng to go by.

Along the road to the centre was an equally jubilant crowd of People’s National Party (PNP) supporters, who were out in their numbers to support their candidate Marsha Francis. While they did not have any marching band or a trailer with dancing girls, their vibrant DJ kept the crowd in a frenzy, spinning popular songs from a sound system mounted along the main road where the crowd had gathered.

But a new level of maturity was obvious in Jamaica’s political history as Comrades and Labourites danced together as the massive crowd of JLP supporters went by the similarly large crowd of PNP supporters. Those who knew each other stopped to hug or engage in friendly bantering, while others posed for photo ops in their different colours. Smiles were etched on the faces of many.

But heavily armed members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force were, however, on the precincts of the nomination centre to ensure the supporters and their revelry were kept within the distance regulated by law.

But as Robertson and his 13 selected witnesses joked with each other while waiting for the nomination process to be completed, outside the mood was getting ready to change, somewhat, as the PNP supporters became anxious that it was fast approaching the 2:00 pm cut-off time, and Robertson was yet to exit the facility. Determined that their candidate would not be denied the opportunity to be duly nominated at the 2:00 pm deadline as required under law, the supporters started to push past the heavily armed members of the security forces who would have none of it. A brief tussle ensued, but this was quickly quelled by a senior police officer who allowed Francis to start walking towards the centre even as Robertson was exiting. It was clear there would not be any friendly greetings as the candidates and their respective groups passed each other.

With under an hour to spare for Francis, the first time candidate was further delayed when a glitch in her paperwork resulted in somewhat of a wait. After the paperwork was sorted out and Francis was duly nominated, the police were on hand to present her team with some disappointing news — the JLP and its massive crowd had taken over the square and the PNP would not be allowed to do the same. This resulted in a heated exchange from Francis’s camp, as persons questioned why they could not be allowed to have their event in the square as originally planned.

Councillor for the Morant Bay Division Constantine Bogle said both parties should be allowed to co-exist in the square.

“Both of us were there befor; we want to bridge that division and that is what our prime minister is asking for, and so I don’t see any problem,” he said.

But Senior Superintendent Griffiths, who was in charge of the nomination proceedings, would have none of it. According to the senior cop intelligence on the ground suggested it would not be a good idea to have such a large group of blended supporters coming together.

“Given the number of persons I have seen on the road, that is not ideal. I don’t think the political tempo is such that we can gauge it to say that it will be peaceful if you meet out in the square,” he said, adding that he did not want a repeat of a political incident which occured in Seaforth in 1989 when he was a constable.

As if to prove him wrong, the PNP supporters marched into Yallahs square where the Labourites were before turning around and going back to their original location a little distance out of the square.

But despite the senior cop’s apprehension of a clash, the day ended on a peaceful note in St Thomas Western with supporters packing up and heading home only after the all the boxes of food and bottles of liquor were totally consumed.

Over in St Thomas Eastern the JLP’s candidate Delano Seiveright came with a large crowd which he feted at the Rudolph Elder park after the nomination proceedings. Hours after the nomination centres were closed, busloads of his supporters were still seen travelling along the road from the direction of Port Morant where the incumbent Dr Fenton Ferguson was feting his equally large crowd of supporters.