Judgement day nears for Morland Wilson
JLP delegates to decide Westmoreland Western MP’s fate on Sunday
LITTLE LONDON, Westmoreland — Sitting Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western, the Jamaica Labour Party’s Morland Wilson, could face the battle of his life on Sunday when he faces off with councillor for Sheffield Division Dr Garfield James for the right to represent the party in the next general election.
James, the principal of Little London High School, has reportedly been endorsed by the one sitting councillor and the three councillor caretakers in the constituency.
He was one of three People’s National Party (PNP) councillors in the constituency who resigned and crossed the flour of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation to join the JLP after refusing to work with the party’s choice to contest the seat.
In January, Wilson survived a yes/no consultation which was staged by the JLP Secretariat to determine if party workers would continue to support him in the next general election.
But without an overwhelming endorsement from the party workers, JLP leader Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness attended a constituency party workers’ meeting five days later. At that time, Holness told the meeting that the party had not yet settled on a representative.
According to Holness, the yes/no consultation was the first step in a process.
“Then, there are polls to be done, and that will give us a full picture as to where we stand with the candidate [Wilson], and with the voters in the constituency. That will help inform [the] strategy going forward — so there is a process that is ongoing,” Holness told journalists in response to queries from the Jamaica Observer following the workers’ meeting in January.
Sunday’s internal election is slated to be staged at two centres in the constituency, Little London High School, where three polling stations will operate, and Grange Hill High School, which is slated to have two polling stations.
Voting is scheduled to begin at midday and close at 4:00 pm with the result expected to be announced by 5:00 pm.
In 2020, Wilson made history when he led the JLP to its first-ever win in a general election in Westmoreland Western.
Wilson polled 6,148 votes to defeat the PNP’s Dr Wykeham McNeill, who received 5,095 votes.
