The Executive Committee of the People’s National Party (PNP) has rejected the nomination of Clarendon Central caretaker Zuleika Jess for a vice-president post, stating that Jess does not meet eligibility requirements.

According to the Committee, the Clarendon Central caretaker was not a paid-up member of the party at the time of nomination.

“A review of the records found that Comrade Jess’ direct membership was suspended since no payment had been made since 2018, and her direct membership was then superseded and came to an end by her becoming a group member.

WATCH: Controversy surrounds Jess’ PNP VP nomination

“However, her group subsequently went into abeyance. Comrade Jess’ membership is now provisional, on account of her group being re-registered on January 31, 2022. In these circumstances, the legal advice received is that payments made at the time of nomination cannot retroactively revive her direct membership,” the Committee said in a news release.

The Executive Committee said it had reviewed the relevant sections of the party’s Constitution and noted that a Comrade must satisfy the following eligibility requirements, in order to be nominated to the post of vice president:

“….must have had membership in the Party for a minimum five year period, be a member of a Recognized Constituency Committee, Regional Management Committee or NEC Member and must have at least twenty four members signing their nomination papers, twelve of whom must be current members of the National Executive Council from at least three Regions.”

According to the Committee, it was against this background that Jess’ eligibility for nomination for vice president was placed before members, who voted as follows:

• Yes (Cde Jess is eligible) – 1 member

• No (Cde Jess is ineligible) – 35 members

• Abstain – 2 members

• 4 comrades did not vote for any of the options

“We look forward to Comrade Jess continuing the work in the vineyard of the People’s National Party so that together we can fulfil the Party’s mandate to the Jamaican people, as there are many other opportunities to serve our great party and we look forward to discussing these with her,” the Committee said.

On Thursday, Jess along with busloads of supporters turned up at the PNP headquarters to officially throw her hat in the ring for one of the four vice president positions in the party, but had to wait several hours before her nomination was accepted pending a deliberation among executive members.

The nominees for the VP positions so far are Senator Donna Scott Mottley; Manchester North Western MP, Mikael Phillips; Spanish Town Mayor, Norman Scott; and former Hanover Western MP, Ian Hayles.

A Jess supporter told OBSERVER ONLINE that party executives were concerned that Jess’ candidacy could potentially displace a loyalist of party president Mark Golding from the slate of VPs.

Scott and Hayles are believed to be loyal to Golding.