PRESIDENTIAL nominations for the People’s National Party (PNP) open today. The period runs until Friday.

The incumbent, Dr Peter Phillips, is expected to be nominated at 11:00 am on Friday — the final day for nominations — while challenger Peter Bunting is expected to be nominated at 10:00 am on the same day at PNP headquarters in St Andrew.

Last month it was revealed that Bunting, who is Member of Parliament for Manchester Central, would be challenging the PNP President and Opposition Leader Dr Phillips for leadership of the 80-year-old party.

Bunting said last month: “Since becoming president, he [Dr Phillips] has not implemented a single transformational initiative within the party, and is just not seen as the right person for this time.

“There is also a growing acceptance/resignation in the general public and amongst various stakeholder groups, including party membership and supporters, civil society, and private sector leadership that the PNP, under Dr Peter Phillips’s leadership, cannot defeat the JLP [Jamaica Labour Party] in a general election. This will have negative consequences for voter support, organisational energy, and party/campaign funding,” he said.

It is not expected that any other candidate will be nominated.

The two will face-off in the election that is set for September 7.