The People’s National Party (PNP) has dismissed the notion that the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is the favourite to win the local government elections when it is announced, citing an internal poll that indicates the opposition party is leading in 12 of the 14 municipal corporations across the island.

“We continue to make our preparations. We have been doing our audits to ensure that our organisation within the divisions is finetuned. We have been doing our polling, and at this time, the PNP is polling ahead in 12 of the 14 municipal corporations,” General Secretary Dayton Campbell said at a press conference on Monday, sharing that the party has 227 of the 228 candidates required for the elections.

“We, unfortunately, lost one of our comrades, Maxine Salabie of the Friendship Division, and we use every occasion to note her sterling contribution to the People’s National Party, to acknowledge her worth and to say thanks to her family and community for lending her to the party to be of service,” said Campbell.

he added.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared on Sunday that according to the JLP own internal poll, his administration is projected to win the upcoming election.

However, the PNP general secretary has challenged this assertion. He stated that if the prime minister was confident his party would win, he would have called the election.

Local government elections were constitutionally due in 2020. However, they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The elections were again postponed in 2021 and 2023, with the Government claiming that the country’s economy was too fragile to call an election. The election is now due by February 28, 2024.

“The truth is that if they were so confident, they would have announced an election. A party that is confident of winning an election doesn’t continue to postpone it serially. And we’re asking the Government to ensure that they do not trample on the democratic process that we have fought hard for as a country. And for them to announce the local government election,” argued Campbell.

The general secretary of the opposition party claimed that the governing JLP plans to postpone the elections for a fourth time, waiting until after the budget debate. But he strongly urged the Government to allow citizens to participate in the election process and prevent further delays.

“We’re calling on the Government to go to the people and let them participate in the process. We do know that the misery index is high in the country. There are a lot of complaints. We are confident that the people of Jamaica are calling for a change, and we are confident that that change begins with the local government, which when they call it, we will win it,” said Campbell.

However, the prime minister and JLP leader, during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in August last year, said he intends to fulfill the constitutional requirements regarding the local government elections. He declared that there would be no further cancellation of the event unless there was an exogenous shock, such as severe weather conditions.

Since then, all eyes have been on Holness as the electorate anxiously await an election date. It was anticipated that the prime minister would have announced the date at the JLP’s annual conference held at the National Arena in November last year. However, their expectations were not met.

Supporters of the JLP have expressed confidence in the ruling party’s ability to win the parochial elections, imploring the prime minister to announce the date.