MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Two heavyweights in the People’s National Party (PNP) are confident that the party has “peaked at the right time” in the lead-up to the September 3 General Election.

Former general secretary of the party Colin Campbell, who now serves as the PNP campaign administrator, and Manchester Southern standard-bearer Peter Bunting have confirmed that the party will have its final two mass meetings in Mandeville this Sunday, and in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, St James, on August 31.

Bunting believes the PNP’s campaign has achieved the party’s target of energising its base across the country.

“We have peaked at just the right time. I believe the Labourites thought we would run out of energy, but each time we have just kicked up the energy a notch and nomination day would show you that the PNP mobilisation and energy is just overwhelming right across the country,” Bunting told the
Jamaica Observer on Wednesday during a site visit ahead of the Mandeville mass meeting.

The leadership of the Manchester Police Division and the police Area Three — Manchester, Clarendon, and St Elizabeth — were among those at the site visit in Mandeville town centre.

“We have to go through the logistics plan with the police to make sure that everything runs smoothly and safely. That is very important…We have mapped out a plan and a strategy that will be executed on Sunday,” Campbell told the Observer.

“The meeting is the first of two mass meetings that we will be having for the campaign. One this Sunday and one the following Sunday in Sam Sharpe Square. We have been around the island already with parish meetings, which ended at Cross Roads on Saturday. This Sunday begins the final lap of the campaign,” added Campbell.

In the meantime, Bunting underscored that Sunday’s mass meeting in Mandeville will be focusing on central Jamaica.

“The mobilisation for Mandeville will really be the catchment area Manchester, St Elizabeth, parts of Clarendon and Southern Trelawny and South West St Ann. The highest concentration of the so-called battleground seats will be in that catchment area,” said Bunting who is the PNP’s candidate in Manchester Southern.

He pointed to the nomination day experiences of PNP candidates as proof that the party is on the right track.

“South Manchester was also of epic proportions, so just judging from what happened on Nomination Day and the mobilisation, the energy, the enthusiasm, I am expecting a large and vibrant meeting on Sunday,” said Bunting.

He credited the PNP’s General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell for effectively mobilising the party’s campaign.

“I think the planning of our campaign has been excellent, so much so that our general secretary was able to call the election himself a day before Prime Minister [Dr Andrew Holness]. He was able to call the election day and name the nomination day.

“I want to give full marks to our general secretary. He was able to predict with such accuracy that he was the one who first named the nomination date and election date and if you look at the timing of our parish meetings, it was perfect to end the Saturday before the announcement. We ended up shifting the final one, because we didn’t want any confrontation or to put anyone at risk,” added Bunting.

PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell parts the crowd to enter the stage at the party’s final parish rally last Saturday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)