PNP tightlipped on strategy to oust JLP’s Williams from Clarendon Municipal Corporation
KINGSTON, Jamaica— The leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP) is tight-lipped on its next step to have the mayor of May Pen, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Joel Williams hand over leadership of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.
The mayor is also chairman of the corporation.
Questions have been raised as to who should be in charge of the local authority following last Friday’s by-election in the Aenon Town division in Clarendon Northern, which was won by PNP candidate Delroy Dawson.
Dawson polled 1,646 votes, while Suzette Barton of the governing JLP received 1,592 votes, in a narrow win for the PNP.
The by-election became necessary following the death in September of JLP councillor Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane. She had created history in the February 26 Local Government Elections when she defeated Dawson by 92 votes. It marked the first time the JLP was winning the division.
February’s election saw the JLP winning 12 divisions while the PNP won 10.
Friday’s victory by Dawson means the Clarendon Municipal Corporation is now tied 11-11. The PNP also won the popular vote and the party believes it should be put it in charge of the corporation similar to what obtains in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation which ended in a 20-20 tie in February, but saw the PNP appoint the mayor, and the JLP the deputy mayor, having won the popular vote.
In the case of Clarendon, Mayor Williams has suggested that he can only be removed if a vote of no-confidence is moved against him or if a JLP councillor crosses the floor.
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said “our position is, with an equality in the number of councillors …in the municipal corporation and the PNP having won the popular vote in the parish in the February elections but also even more so with this by-election, the right and principled thing is for the existing mayor to step down and to allow democracy to prevail and to have the PNP councillors choose a mayor. That is the position that we believe is correct”.
“In terms of what we will do in terms of our legal strategy, I’m not going to disclose that today,” Golding added.
