THERE are increasingly louder whispers coming from inside the People’s National Party (PNP) that plans have been ditched for a run-off to determine its representative for St Ann South Eastern.

Comrades in the PNP stronghold are gearing up for Sunday’s clash between Dr Kenneth Russell — who emerged with the most votes when the delegates in the constituency voted in a selection exercise on June 11 — and Wavel Hinds who finished second.

Russell polled 358 votes to Hinds 245, while a third candidate, Patricia Duncan Sutherland, finished at the back of the pack with 171 votes.

Following that selection, the PNP Secretariat indicated that, since none of the three aspirants received “50 per cent plus one” of the votes, its rules dictated that its election monitoring committee, in consultation with the officers of Region One, in which the constituency falls, should, “determine the process which may involve a run-off with the two top aspirants”.

It was subsequently reported that the Comrades would be asked to again vote on July 2 in a run-off between Russell and Hinds.

On Wednesday, PNP insiders told the Jamaica Observer that a subsequent opinion poll done in the constituency showed Russell as the overwhelming choice of the delegates and the man most likely to retain the seat for the party whenever a general election is called.

An earlier poll, commissioned by the party, had seen Hinds emerge as the man most people wanted to succeed Lisa Hanna who led the constituency since 2007. Hanna announced last year that she had decided to walk away from the constituency after seeing her margin of victory decline from 3,137 in 2016 to 31 in 2020 following a fallout with many influential Comrades in the constituency.

“The most recent poll sealed the deal for Russell and the general secretary [Dayton Campbell] will make that announcement shortly,” said a PNP insider on Wednesday.

According to the insider, Hinds has signalled that he is not interested in a run-off and has conceded that Russell should be given the nod as the candidate. Efforts to contact Hinds were unsuccessful up to press time.

But Russell told the Observer Wednesday afternoon that he was not aware of any change of plan by the party and was preparing for Sunday.

“I am on the ground and talking to the people because we want to send a message,” said the newcomer to representational politics who could clash with Hinds who unsuccessfully contested the Hanover Eastern seat in the 2020 General Election.

PNP insiders have claimed that a decision by Hinds to endorse Russell would come as no surprise to Comrades in the constituency, who have long argued that the result of the previous selection should be used to determine the candidate.

They pointed to the action of Sutherland who hailed Russell after the initial internal race and hinted that she would accept him as the candidate.

“I’d like to congratulate Comrade Kenneth Russell, who received the most votes, and I’d like to congratulate all Comrades who came out to participate in South East St Ann,” Sutherland told the Observer following the election.

Former PNP Chairman Fitz Jackson also urged the party to name Russell as its candidate for the constituency.

“It was not a public opinion poll, it was from the membership of the constituency expressing their preference and he performed well with a clear 15 per cent margin,” Jackson said, adding that he is confident that his preferred candidate will be victorious once a decision is made.

“We accept that there is a process in terms of confirming the candidate but we have a great deal of confidence that good judgement will prevail and we remain confident that the decision will be favourable to us and, by extension, the people in the constituency,” Jackson added.

Some of Russell’s supporters also warned that they were not prepared for a second selection and would be disappointed if he was not given the nod.

Russell, a newcomer to representational politics, had previously told the Observer that he was confident that he was the candidate who will excite the electorate in the constituency,

“St Ann South Eastern is my home. I was born there, went to school — Bensonton Primary and Ferncourt High schools — so I know this constituency. I know the culture, I know the people, and I know that the kind of politics that I practise — which is participatory, which is collaborative, and one which is respectful of people — is what they want,” said Russell as he declared that he is focused on serving the people and staying above some of the issues which sometimes get in the way of providing service.