CLARENDON South Eastern incumbent Pearnel Charles, Jr of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), who charged that there has been a pattern of intimidation by persons opposed to his bid for stewardship of the constituency, says the murder of one of his strongest workers the night before Nomination Day will only fuel the party’s winning streak.

Party faithful Paul Henry, who had Monday worked to erect billboards for Charles, was shot and killed at the gate to his home in Rocky Settlement that same night.

“I have said it many times that I have noticed a pattern, from the time I came here during the by-election — a pattern of breaking the law, of canvassing persons at polling stations, of sending messages to persons that ‘we are gonna win at any cost’. Well, let me tell you I am not afraid and I don’t walk alone and I am going to ensure that we work with the police and we encourage community members to give all the information they have to the police officers. The criminals that slaughtered Paul Henry will be caught and I am hoping they will get exactly what they deserve,” Charles Jr said.

“He was shot several times; he didn’t even make it inside to greet his wife and children. The mood is dampened. And I am hoping that anyone who believes that political intimidation will work will understand I am sending a strong message: You will not deter us, we will not stand down, we will reject and rebuke any political intimidation, any political violence,” Charles Jr told the media following his nomination yesterday.

“We had one of our supporters beaten two days ago by persons in a convoy following Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips. We have had posters burnt, and this morning I got pictures of posters and banners burnt. It will not work; they will not win, and we will not stand down and step back. We are going to show that we are going to encourage our supporters to be responsible, but we are going to do all that is necessary to make sure that the Jamaica Labour Party retains South East Clarendon,” a defiant Charles Jr stated.

Asked whether he thought the killing was political he said, “What I am convinced of is that the facts show me that right after speaking to me at my office and going to tend to the business of the Jamaica Labour Party, our captain, our strongest worker in that division, was killed brutally; he has no antecedents, ask the police. He has nobody in the area that has an issue with him directly, maybe a family member, I don’t know but regardless of whether it is reality or perception this is what I have to face.”

“Paul was loved by both PNP and JLP. I don’t want to draw any conclusions that will inflame the situation; all I want to do is protect the people that support me and even those that don’t support me. We all, as leaders, are responsible for them and we have to make sure that we rebuke and reject any political intimidation, to rebuke and reject any political violence creeping into this campaign. [The year] 2020 must be a time when we set a clear message to Jamaica: It’s a different Jamaica, it’s a different politics aside,” he stated.

Yesterday, a buoyant People’s National Party contender Patricia Duncan Sutherland, following her own nomination at the Vere Technical High School a few hours after Charles’s, dismissed the speculation.

“Whenever a murder occurs in South East Clarendon we are always concerned because violence is a terrible thing that nobody wants to continue. The young man who was murdered is the cousin of one of my cluster managers. Is so South East Clarendon set; everybody is family. We don’t deal with any kind of political violence and as SSP Stephanie Lindsay said this morning that their understanding is that it is a dispute between some fisherfolk [that led to the killing],” Duncan Sutherland said. Yesterday morning, ahead of her nomination, Duncan Sutherland told the Jamaica Observer that a number of her billboards and posters had been defaced while others had been torn down and burnt.

She said the support on the ground was indicative of the shifting political tide.

“We are feeling good; we have been on the road from morning. The reception was tremendous; it is clear that the people of South East Clarendon are ready to have a new Member of Parliament having had their interim Member of Parliament for a few months and now they are ready for a real Member of Parliament: The real deal, Patricia Duncan-Sutherland,” she said confidently.