NEGRIL, Westmoreland – In the aftermath of a devastating defeat in the September 2020 General Election and with the local government elections pending, People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding visited sections of Westmoreland recently, pledging the party’s commitment to rebuild trust with the people.

“We spent the day in Westmoreland touching base with the people again to show them that we love them and we realised that we have to live up to the standards that they expect of us, and that is why we are here to pledge that we will do that and to rebuild your trust and confidence in us as leaders of the People’s National Party,” assured Golding, as he addressed a gathering of party supporters in Negril during the tour of the parish.

Local government elections were constitutionally due in November 2020; however, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus, a decision was taken to postpone the elections to not later than February next year.

It is not clear when the polls will be held as Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently suggested that there could be further postponement.

The PNP suffered a crushing defeat in Westmoreland in the last general election, losing all three parliamentary seats it held up to the time of the polls.

It is widely believed that poor stewardship of the parish by the PNP representatives had contributed to the party’s poor showing at the polls.

However, Golding said there is currently “buyer’s remorse” and the people are longing to see his party back in power.

“Whenever you [have] held office or represented people for a long period of time, inevitably, people will start to think what else is available. But I think they have buyer’s remorse right now because what they have got they are not happy with at all,” he argued.

“I have been touring the parish today, and everywhere I go the people are so happy to see us and they want to see the PNP back. But, it’s a place [Westmoreland] that has deep roots for the People’s National Party, and you know, yes, we went through a hard time last year, but I think the local government elections, which is the next thing we are focusing on, will show the strength that we have basically in the communities, grass roots people, and I am looking forward to a good result for us then,” expressed a seemingly confident PNP president.

Golding later told the Observer West that his visit to the parish forms part of an islandwide tour.

“We know that there will be a local government election at some time. We don’t know when it will be, but the truth of the matter is I wanted to go on the ground when I became president of the party, and I started that in January of this year, and then COVID intensified with the second wave and we had to curtail it,” Golding explained.

“So, yeah, this is an opportunity for me to get to know the Jamaican people and for them to get to know me, and I think that is very important because I have only been in representational politics since 2017, before that I was a senator for 10 years. So, you know, I think it is important that the people get to know who Mark Golding is, what I stand for, and what I will bring to the table when I become the next prime minister of the country.”