THE race to replace Dr Omar Davies as the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) constituency chairman for St Andrew Southern has further heightened tensions in the party, with aspirant Colin Campbell chiding former president and prime minister, P J Patterson, for his reported endorsement of opponent Senator Mark Golding.

In a letter of complaint to General Secretary Paul Burke yesterday, Campbell said the endorsement, which happened on Monday at a private party meeting, amounted to “undue influence on the delegates of South St Andrew and an unwarranted interference in the democratic process of electing a new chairman of the constituency .

“I have no wish to take any public issue with the former party leader, who is someone for whom I have the highest regard, and he can always be assured of my highest esteem. Comrade Patterson is someone who I served loyally as a minister for 10 years, for whom I campaigned when he sought the office of leader and someone whom I travelled the length and breadth of Jamaica [with] in the 1980s when we sought to return our great party to office,” Campbell wrote.

“But fair is fair; it is unprecedented for party leaders to enter the playing field of constituency selections, as all party leaders hold the reserve power of removal. Party leaders have been the guardians of the internal democratic process and any intervention, therefore, must be seen as unwarranted, unless it is in keeping with established protocols. It is worse …coming the day after our two-day meeting of the National Executive Council, at which the former Comrade leader appealed for unity and good order in the conduct of our affairs,” Campbell added.

“PNP delegates are used to being instructed and charged by party leaders, not to being told who to vote for in a constituency race,” he further argued.

The date for the selection of Dr Davies’ replacement, originally planned for July 25, is set for this Sunday. Dr Davies, who served in different PNP Administrations as minister of transport and minister of finance, indicated earlier this year that he would not be seeking re-election. His health has been cited as the reason for his decision.

Senator Golding, who has served as a member of the constituency’s executive, has been praised for his work as justice minister in the last PNP Administration, which ended its four-year reign in March. Campbell, meanwhile, was up to recently the managing director of the State-run Jamaica Urban Transit Company, where he oversaw several changes aimed at modernising the bus company.

So far, both candidates have received endorsements from party bigwigs, with Campbell picking up that of the party’s powerful Region 3 chairman, Phillip Paulwell.

Yesterday Campbell asked the general secretary to refer the issue to the officers and Internal Affairs Commission, and argued that making the complaint public was necessary.

“I am also asking delegates to continue their independent thinking, realising that it is proper planning and representation that will bring sustainable development to their communities and allow no one to use them as pawns in their grand schemes,” he urged.