To suggest to any woman set to represent the party that gave Jamaica its first, and only woman prime minister — Portia Simpson Miller — that she is being nominated as a token by the People’s National Party (PNP) is like a declaration of war.

Twelve women are slated to be nominated on Tuesday to contest the September 3 General Election on the PNP’s ticket, and they are all determined not just to help their party back to the Government benches in Parliament, but to play key roles in helping to guide the development of Jamaica.

Three of the 12 women sat with the Jamaica Observer last week and dismissively swatted away the claim that the party has gone for them because it wants to win support by showing it to be inclusive.

“I know that the PNP believes women are more than tokens,” declared Patricia Duncan Sutherland, who is taking a second shot at the Clarendon South Eastern seat following a failed bid in 2016.

“You need to remember that the PNP’s Women’s Movement was the premier group that began to create the space for women in Jamaica to be able to manifest their full selves. It created that space for maternity leave, created that space for equal pay, created that space for women to have a voice at the table every step of the way,” said Duncan Sutherland, who was joined by the party’s Clarendon Central representative Zuelika Jess and Krystal Tomlinson, who will represent the party in St Andrew West Rural, for the discussion with the Sunday Observer.

“I wish sometimes people could see and hear what goes on in our [PNP] executive meetings. I sit on the party’s executive… and before the elections we would meet every week. There is no question about the role and power of the female voices inside those meetings,” said Tomlinson, a communications consultant and author who is taking her first stab at representational politics.

Young attorney-at-law Jess, who is also entering representation all politics for the first time, said she has been shown full respect by the men inside the PNP.

“They have treated me like a family. We are an inclusive movement, everyone has an equal voice at the table and we [women] have never felt as though we are any less,” said Jess.

The three, who have had successful careers outside of politics, were uniform in their desire to serve the people of Jamaica.

“I decided to enter the political landscape because I believe that I can provide the change that Central Clarendon needs. After 40 years of poor representation, 40 years where we have had terrible road conditions; far too many communities that are still without running water, far too many communities that are still without access to Internet and even telephone services.

“I believe it is time for a change. I have strapped on my Gideon boots and I’m determined to lead the people of Central Clarendon to progress,” said Jess.

For Tomlinson, a longing to see improvements in the condition of the people in the constituency where she was born, plus the confidence they have expressed in her ability to serve them, pulled her out of corporate Jamaica into a full-time political role.

“I am not happy that 30 years after I was born there, where I had to catch water in a bath pan and throw it on me to rinse off that is still the reality of too many residents. There is no running water, poor infrastructural development and the pace of people investment has just been slow. This constant commitment to the slow introduction of progress inside West Rural St Andrew has just gotten on my nerves, and the people are tired of it,” said Tomlinson.

Duncan Sutherland’s move into representation politics was an easy decision for her because she is convinced that people of integrity are needed in politics.

“I come to politics coming from the private sector with a reputation of integrity, with people knowing that I have no need for any financial gains … because it is important for people to bring trust to our politicians again,” said Duncan Sutherland.

Having established themselves in their professional lives and with a desire to serve, Duncan Sutherland, Jess and Tomlinson headed to the PNP and they are confident that they have selected the right vehicle.

According to Tomlinson, working in corporate Jamaica showed her that, even when resources are available, if there is no organisation and no vision, no amount of investment will change the reality of the people. She argued that the policies and principles of the PNP are the ones geared to move Jamaica forward.

That is a view shared by Jess, who said she sees that PNP as the better option.

“When I examined both major political parties I looked at what the Jamaica Labour Party stands for and what the People’s National Party stands for and I realised, without a shadow of doubt, that the party that has the principles and policies that go best with my principles was the People’s National Party,” she said.

“The PNP is the party that says power for the people, that says we can uplift and raise the bar for people who come from the margins of society, so that a young country girl like me could rise up, despite the fact that I was born to a single mother, I could rise up and become an attorney-at-law at 22 years old,” said Jess.

Duncan Sutherland is from a traditional PNP family, but that was not the main reason she decided to make her contribution through the party.

“I chose the PNP because of its basic principles, equality and social justice. I have read a lot of documents on the JLP and they do not have a document that says what their core principles are. They have a document that says they intend to get power for the party and that says they intend to make Jamaica better, but they don’t have core principles,” argued Duncan Sutherland, who lost by 958 votes to JLP veteran Rudyard Spencer the last time around.

This time she faces Pearnel Charles Jr, who won a by-election in March which the PNP did not contest, and Duncan Sutherland is confident that she will turn the result around.

“I am so excited about this election, I am so ready for this election and I’m looking forward to September 3 when I am going to be elected to represent the people of South East Clarendon,” gushed Duncan Sutherland.

It will take a Herculean effort for Jess to dethrone many-time champion Mike Henry in Clarendon Central, but the attorney is well aware of the biblical story of David and Goliath.

“I am known for doing things that others have thought impossible. When I was 10 years old I was told that I was too young to start high school and I started high school anyway. When I was 17, I was told that I was too young to go to law school. I got accepted and started doing law anyway.

“When I was 22 I was told that I was too young to start my own practice, but I opened my own law firm anyway. So even with that margin I am quite confident that the people of Clarendon Central are ready for change after 40 years of poor representation,” said Jess.

Since 2007 the people of St Andrew West Rural have voted with the winning party in every general election, so nobody needs to tell Tomlinson how important a PNP victory in this seat could be. But she will face an opponent, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, who won the seat by 2,098 votes the last time around.

“That margin is always the margin that the PNP has to break. In the election before the last one [2011], it was a similar margin and Paul Buchanan broke it. That is what I’m coming up against, and I’m going to break it because the people of St Andrew West Rural don’t stand for foolishness,” Tomlinson said. “They are not die-hard and if they see that you are not working, you are showing them no respect, and you do not listen and include them in the process, then you have no right to that seat. Nobody has a right to that seat, you have to earn it,” declared Tomlinson.