“YOU are not for sale”.

That was the exhortation given to supporters of the People’s National Party (PNP) by PNP President Mark Golding at a Portmore rally in the municipality on Saturday night.

The rally, which was held at the constituency office of the candidate for St Catherine Southern, Fitz Jackson, in Southborough, drew a large crowd.

It followed an hours-long tour of the three Portmore constituencies — St Catherine East Central, St Catherine South, and St Catherine South Eastern. Raymond Pryce will represent the PNP in St Catherine East Central while Dr Alfred Dawes is the PNP’s standard-bearer in St Catherine South Eastern.

Two of the seats, East Central and South Eastern, were won by the Jamaica Labour Party in the 2020 General Election, with the PNP winning St Catherine Southern.

At the end of a 15-minute address, Golding said, “Comrades, I ask all of you, remember Michael Manley said, ‘we are not for sale’.

“They will try and influence your decision on election day by [offering you] some chump change, some little money that in a week or less will be done, and then you’ll have five years of bad government and your children will be suffering the consequences and their grandchildren as well, of that bad decision. That is why Michael Manley said it and I repeat it tonight, we are not for sale,” added Golding.

He also warned of possible intimidatory tactics leading up to the opening of the polls.

“If they come with their intimidation, remember that we’re blood and fire Comrades; the word is love and we not looking any antagonism or aggression of any kind. But we will stand firm if we’re under any pressure because we believe in democracy and we want to know one man, one vote, one woman, one vote, is what is going to happen on the third of September. Free and fair elections is what we demand, and we’re not going to back off from that”.

Earlier, Golding repeated some of the PNP’s promises should it be elected to office after the polls close on Wednesday.

“We’re going to make working families have it that much easier by increasing the income tax threshold to $3.5 million per year.

“And if you’re working and you earn overtime whether in the private sector or the public sector, you could be a security guard, you could be a police officer, you could be a nurse or a fireman or whatever you are, your overtime pay will no longer be taxed if you’re earning under $6 million a year,” said Golding.

He also reminded that for workers in the hospitality industry, their tips and gratuity will no longer be taxed “because we’re committed to making life on this rock easier, more bearable, and more productive for our people so they have money to survive and live a decent life and they can help to build the economy and take it forward”.

The PNP president said the party was advancing important policies in agriculture, critical policies in education, critical policies for the youth, and for persons with disabilities.

“These are vital things, Comrades, but most important of all, we’re going to be reintroducing integrity into the centre of governance and eliminating the graft and corruption which is an abysmal feature of the current Government,” he said.

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