By Garwin Davis,
Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
LARGE CROWDS of political activists wearing their party colours, chanting slogans and dancing in the streets, turned out yesterday to support their candidates who were getting nominated for the March 8 parliamentary by-election in St. Ann North East.
The candidates are:
Mrs. Barbara Clarke, businesswoman, NDM.
Mrs. Carrol Jackson, businesswoman, PNP.
Mrs. Shahine Robinson, businesswoman, JLP.
Mr. Astor Black, businessman, independent.
Political historians say it was the first time in Jamaica that three women are running for the same parliamentary seat.
The seat became vacant with the resignation from the House of Representatives in November 2000 of Danny Melville of the PNP.
From as early as 7 a.m. the streets of Ocho Rios were unusually busy as supporters of the ruling PNP, the opposition JLP and the fledgling NDM, began jostling as they boosted to see who would come out on top in the psychological numbers game frequently associated with Nomination Day.
Carnival-like show
The Jamaica Labour Party with its top party machinery, including leader Edward Seaga, behind candidate Shahine Robinson, was the first to put its carnival-like show on the road. Party supporters with car horns blaring and shouting "Shower", arrived in St. Ann's Bay at 10 a.m. and by the time they took the short walk to the courthouse where the nomination papers were to be handed in, the excitement had reached fever pitch.
Astor Black, an independent candidate, who only a few days ago signalled his intention to enter the race, followed with fewer than a dozen supporters. His short stint at the courthouse drew both applause and laughter from onlookers. He responded proudly with a wave of his Rastafarian flag.
Barbara Clarke, the National Democratic Movement's candidate, made her midday appearance also with a fairly large group of supporters in tow. Flanked by party president Bruce Golding, she smiled and waved as she made her way into the courthouse to sign the nomination papers.
Her group, though significantly smaller than that of the JLP, was no less enthusiastic. Her supporters sang and danced in the street.
Although Carrol Jackson, the PNP candidate, was the last to hand in her papers, her supporters were no less enthusiastic and numerous, with the nomination taking place in one of the constituency strongholds. Mrs Jackson's arrival at 2 p.m. arrival was tumultuous. Her orange-clad supporters waving flags and chanting, "We say P.J.", marched noisily behind her in a show of strength.
"The most important thing for me is that these are mostly Northeast St. Ann people and not outsiders," said a beaming Mrs. Jackson. "I would be very disappointed if I should win by less than 3,000 votes. No matter all the talk about polls and predictions of a close race, this is PNP territory. When you trouble PNP people, it's like waking an ants nest."
Mrs. Jackson said that her real strength was in her ability to galvanise support across party lines and that she had a proven track record.
Constituency people
The JLP though, was down playing the size of the PNP turnout, charging that their opponents had bussed in a lot of outside people. "If you compare our support to theirs, the most significant thing was that the JLP crowd consisted mostly of constituency people," said Michael Belnavis, a former constituency caretaker. "You could see that a lot of their supporters were from outside the parish and that is not how you determine a position of strength".
Deputy Leader Audley Shaw agrees. "The real numbers will show on election day", he said.
The NDM also fancies its chances. According to campaign manager, Bobby Marsh, it was evident that the people of the constituency wanted a change and predicted that his party would pull off a surprise on March 8.
