‘Call the election now!’ Campbell demands of Holness

People's National Party (PNP) General Secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell, has urged Prime Minister Andrew Holness to call the General Elections now, as the parliamentary Opposition has its full slate of 63 candidates in place.

General Elections are due by September of this year, and the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is carrying out what it has labelled as "soundings" in at least two constituencies - North West St Elizabeth and Western Westmoreland - which could be indicative of its preparation for the national polls.

Campbell, speaking on Sunday night at a PNP rally in Cave Valley, St Ann to present Danishka Williams as the party’s representative for the South West St Ann constituency, said the party's machinery is ready.

"The People's National Party has put our 63 candidates in place, and we are ready for them to call the election so we can beat dem street and lane and return dignity to Jamaica House," declared Campbell to jubilant comrades.

When the sounds of the vuvuzelas died down for a few seconds, the party’s general secretary delivered a message to JLP Leader and Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

Danishka Williams (file photo)

"... And a want seh Mass Andrew, yuh can run, but yuh can't hide! Call the election now!" Campbell thundered.

In addressing the audience, PNP President and Opposition Leader, Mark Golding, suggested that the country has "turned against" the JLP Administration. He claimed that Jamaicans are desirous of a "fresh, clean start to take Jamaica forward to a better place".

Nonetheless, Golding said the PNP cannot be complacent, or take the upcoming elections lightly.

"They (the JLP) don't intend to give it to us. We are going to have to do the work, and do what it takes to make it happen," he stated.

On that score, the PNP president rallied the comrades of South West St Ann to support Williams to be their next Member of Parliament (MP) and, by extension, support the PNP in its quest to form the next Government.

South West St Ann is currently represented by the JLP's Zavia Mayne, who is an attorney by profession and the current Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

He first became MP for the constituency in 2016, and was re-elected in 2020.