HOPEWELL, Hanover — The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has confirmed that former Member of Parliament (MP) for Hanover Eastern Dr Donald Keith ‘D K’ Duncan has been unanimously elected as chairman of the party’s Hanover Eastern constituency organisation.

Jamaica Observer West had first reported last Thursday that the veteran politician had returned to political administration in the constituency that he last represented in Parliament. Confirmation came yesterday in the form of a statement to the media. He is expected to hold the post for around a year, the PNP has indicated.

“Dr Duncan was elected last Sunday during a PNP constituency conference held at the Sandy Bay Primary and Junior High School in Hanover. He replaces Councillor for the Chester Castle Division, Wynter McIntosh who ran in the February 25 General Election and lost to the Jamaica Labour Party’s Dave Brown by 340 votes,” a statement over the signature of the PNP’s Calvin G Brown read.

“Dr Duncan told constituents that he was accepting the post in order to free McIntosh to launch an effective re-election campaign for councillor of the Chester Castle Division, a post he has held since 2007.

“Councillor McIntosh, who is also chairman of the Hanover Parish Council and mayor of Lucea, was re-elected chairman of the Chester Castle Division, while Hopewell businesswoman Sharon Taylor was elected councillor-caretaker of the Hopewell Division.

“Educator Andria Dehaney-Dinham was elected to serve as councillor-caretaker for the Sandy Bay Division, replacing Councillor Lloyd Hill, who is not eligible for re-election.

“Moncrieff Leslie, a former councillor for the Chester Castle division and former mayor of Lucea, was elected a vice chairman of the constituency, along with the three divisional chairmen.

“Dr Duncan’s re-election as chairman of Eastern Hanover PNP is expected to re-energise the PNP base in that constituency and strengthen the party’s preparation for the upcoming local government elections,” the statement read.

However, there were clear rumblings from within the PNP Region Six machinery, which includes the parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland and St James, with chairman for the region, Ian Hayles, who is MP for Hanover Western, objecting to Duncan’s return.

Hayles made the comment last week in an interview with

Nationwide Radio.

Hayles became chairman of Region Six in 2015, replacing Duncan who opted not to get into a contest with the younger politician, citing his disappointment with the manner in which Hayles had gone about running a campaign to unseat him as chairman, a position that he held for eight years.

Duncan served as minister of national mobilisation during the Administration led by Michael Manley between 1976 and 1980, at a time when he was MP for St Andrew East Central, a seat now held by Dr Peter Phillips.

After a lengthy period outside of the political arena, Duncan, a dentist by profession, campaigned with then fledlging third party, the National Democratic Movement, led at the time by Bruce Golding, but went back into the fold of the PNP in time for the 2007 General Election and won the Hanover Eastern seat, defeating the JLP’s Barrington Gray by 10 votes, and retained it in 2011 with victory over Paula Kerr-Jarrett, also of the JLP.

Duncan did not contest the seat in the February 25 General Election this year, making way for McIntosh, whose loss left supporters inside and outside the constituency fuming that had Duncan not been pressured to leave by some, his organisational skills would have made it difficult for Brown to regain the seat for the JLP.