FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has made it clear that no one else from that political organisation has been given the green light to campaign for the Trelawny Southern seat, once represented by Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert who resigned as Member of Parliament and House speaker in September 2023.

“Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert has not resigned from the party, that’s the reality; she has resigned from Parliament. We are not in the process of recruiting anybody for South Trelawny. She [still] has some responsibility [in the constituency], but beside that, we don’t put anybody in South Trelawny to campaign,” JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang told the Jamaica Observer last week when asked for an update on the seat.

Dalrymple-Philibert stepped aside after a ruling by the Integrity Commission’s Director of Corruption Prosecution Keisha Prince-Kameka that she be charged for allegedly running afoul of the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act, 1973 in filing her statutory declarations. Her resignation as MP caught the JLP off guard and there have been ongoing efforts to have her rethink her decision to step back.

“Nobody is supposed to be campaigning for the party without the permission of the Central Executive of the party… the operations council actually. And we have not considered or given anybody permission to do so,” Dr Chang said.

Speculation had been rife that businessman Devon McDaniel, who was elected to represent Trelawny Southern on a JLP ticket in 2002, would once again be the party’s standard bearer at the next general elections which are due in 2025.

This was fuelled by McDaniel’s active support of JLP candidates within the constituency on local government election day, February 26 this year. His track record is a lot less impressive than Dalrymple-Philibert’s. He was a one-term MP in Trelawny Southern and lost the contest for St Catherine South Central in the 2007 General Election to Sharon Hay-Webster who was the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate at the time.

Dalrymple-Philibert won Trelawny Southern in four consecutive elections, but with uncertainity surrounding who will contest the seat for the JLP, the PNP has shied away from naming a candidate.

According to Observer sources, the PNP’s selection will be influenced by whether they have to face off against the formidable Dalrymple-Philibert or someone less difficult to beat.

Last August, before Dalrymple-Philibert resigned, businessman Fabian “Fabo” Davis was announced as the PNP’s representative in Trelawny Southern. He got the nod at a selection exercise at the PNP’s Trelawny Southern conference at Albert Town High School in the parish. In the February 26 local government elections he successfully ran on the party’s ticket for the Duncan’s Division in Trelawny Northern.

But earlier this month former independent councillor for the Lorrimers Division in the constituency, businessman Paul Patmore, revealed that he has applied for membership in the PNP with a view to being the candidate whenever an election is called.

“I am trying to be a member of the People’s National Party and that’s where my loyalty is. I wouldn’t run as an independent again. No, never! I am a Comrade now,” he said then.

However, efforts to verify his candidacy or membership in the PNP have been unsuccessful as repeated calls to the party’s General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell’s cellular phone have gone unanswered.