SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – People’s National Party (PNP) president and opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller insisted Sunday night that she intends to see her party through Local Government elections which are expected soon.

 “I have a duty to see the PNP through this local government elections. I have a responsibility to get our party ready for the Local Government election. I will not ignore that responsibility,” Simpson Miller told cheering Comrades at a St Elizabeth North Eastern Constituency Conference at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) auditorium.

 Her comments came against the back drop of strong calls for her to set a timeline for orderly departure following the party’s shock one-seat loss to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the February 25 parliamentary elections.   

 Manchester Central member of Parliament and former PNP general Secretary Peter Bunting has announced his ambition to seek leadership of the party at an “appropriate” time. However, he told Comrades at his constituency conference in Mandeville on Sunday night that now was not the right time to challenge for leadership.

 Bunting said the party executive had asked aspirants to the party presidency to delay their ambitions in order to “avoid internal elections coinciding with or distracting from Local Government Elections Campaign. They don’t have to ask me that twice. I am a Party man; I understand that completely.”

 Local Government elections are due but there has been no clear indication of when Prime Minister Andrew Holness will call it.