MONTEGO BAY, St James — Elated at the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday that the St James Municipal Corporation has to halt removal of their campaign material, three People’s National Party (PNP) caretaker candidates in St James will attempt to swiftly retrieve their signs and remount them, along with new ones.

“We will be moving to collect what they took down. They must be in the condition they were [in] when they took them. We will be putting more posters along with those in short order,” Dr Andre Haughton, who has aspirations of being Member of Parliament for St James West Central, told the Jamaica Observer.

“We are making arrangements to get them back because we putting them right back where they took them from immediately. The injunction has given us the right to put up our posters anywhere we want,” he added.

In early April, acting on the directive of Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon (Jamaica Labour Party, Montego Bay South Division), a number of campaign signs were removed from sections of the western city. The mayor, who argued that the election campaign season had not officially begun, expressed concern that there would be even more signs once campaigning got underway. He also expressed concern that some signs were occupying spaces that usually generate revenue for the municipal corporation.

The PNP hit back, arguing that only their signs were being removed and that the campaign season had in fact begun. After a flurry of threats PNP candidates Dr Haughton, Janice Allen and Allan Bernard took the matter to court. The matter was also referred to the Office of the Political Ombudsman which asked Vernon to explain the rationale behind his action. He asked for the matter to be deferred until the courts addressed the issue. On Monday the Supreme Court granted the PNP side’s application for an injunction.

“The court has granted an injunction restraining the St James Municipal Corporation from interfering, removing or dealing with their posters and political paraphernalia,” explained Maurice McCurdy, the attorney who represented the PNP members.

Permission has also been granted for judicial review of the corporation’s decision.

“The corporation made a motion to prohibit political paraphernalia so we are seeking to overturn that motion and also their decision to remove them,” McCurdy explained.

While no date has been given for that aspect of the case to proceed, he said his clients are ready.

On Monday, Allen described the brouhaha over the signs as an annoyance, and a signal that the JLP viewed the PNP as a threat. She said the removal of the signs had actually boosted her campaign.

“It was an annoying thing that we had to deal with because it all came about based on what I would say were actions that were taken that were not in keeping with what everybody understood to be the campaign process and period,” she told the Observer.

“It helped to reinforce that we must do something and continue the process to form the next Government — and I, Janice Allen, will not be deterred. It propelled me, gave me momentum, and it brought attention to the campaign — which, obviously, I welcome,” Allen added.

Haughton offered Mayor Vernon a bit of advice.

“I implore that the mayor begin to focus on the real bowels of his job and stop letting the Labourites use him as a tool of political tennis and political football because that approach is taking him nowhere,” he quipped.

Haughton is seeking to unseat the JLP’s Marlene Malahoo Forte while Allen is looking to face off against Heroy Clarke in St James Central. Bernard has plans to square off against Dr Horace Chang in St James North Western.