KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that the general elections will be held on September 3, saying that “we have been waiting for this moment for a very long time”.
Prime Minister Holness, on Sunday night, announced the date for the elections at a rally of his ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as he seeks a third consecutive term in office.
Nomination Day will be August 18.
Holness told supporters that he had earlier on Sunday informed the Governor General, Sir Patrick Allen, of the decision to call the election, adding, “You, the people, must review our stewardship.
“My fellow Jamaicans, you now know the time, you now know the date, I ask you to choose wisely,” Holness told the large crowd at the JLP rally.
“The momentum is with the Jamaica Labour Party. The momentum is borne out of the hard work…but also borne out of the legitimacy of the government,” he said, adding that the people of Jamaica have to agree that the “Jamaica Labour Party is a government that has delivered”.
The JLP is expected to face a strong challenge from the PNP, which last Saturday had said that the elections would be held on the date announced by Holness.
JLP leader, Mark Golding, said the PNP, which holds 14 of the 63 seats in the Parliament following the 2020 general election, is confident of victory and that the ruling party had been running scared.
“ We have been walking the length and breadth of Jamaica. The highways and byways, the hills and the valleys, and everywhere we go as a united party, the people say they are ready for change,” Golding said.
He said the PNP has been wanting “for so long” to regain the government, so that we can move forward as a nation.
“They were running scared because no government leaves it to the 11th hour, and the election called itself because they were out of time,” Golding said, urging party supporters “to step up” over the next three weeks to put the PNP back in corridors of power.
“We’ll be on the road, and we’ll continue to take that message of hope to the people. And I say to each of you in your circumstances, carry the message far and wide, and let the people understand what we plan to do, and how we intend to make a better life for the people of Jamaica.
“Our plans are solid. Our plans are relevant. Our plans attack the real issues of concern to the people of this country. And we have the capacity and the will and the determination to execute on our plans,” Golding said.
According to the Electoral Office of Jamaica, 2,077,799 people are eligible to vote in the upcoming general election, with political observers saying that 20 swing states could determine the outcome of the polls.
Since gaining universal adult suffrage in 1944, Jamaica has held 18 general elections with both parties winning on nine occasions each.
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