Henry-WilsonGENERAL SECRETARY of the People's National Party Maxine Henry-Wilson has suggested that inadequate Parlia-mentary representation and problems related to land and squatting may have contributed most to her party's defeat in last Thursday's by-election in St. Ann North East.
In radio interviews last Friday she said the farming community may also have felt neglected. Referring to the fall in support for the party in traditional strongholds of Lime Hall and Beecher Town she noted that they may have lost more than 2,000 votes.
In an interview on RJR's current affairs programme "Beyond the Headlines" she said meetings were held yesterday with campaign organisers who were asked to express their views on the possible reasons for the outcome.
Also speaking on the programme was Bruce Golding, President of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) who said the future of the party would be determined after serious analysis.
Last Thursday's by-election was won by Shahine Robinson of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) who polled 7,743 votes to the PNP's Carrol Jackson's 7,234.
For his part Mr. Golding said he was disappointed with the 740 votes polled by the party's candidate Barbara Clarke. He said the final count was "not commensurate with our own assessment of the level of goodwill we enjoyed...in the constituency".
With a 57 per cent voter turnout in a constituency of just over 27,000 electors, Mr. Golding expressed the view that many of the 12,000 who did not vote would have supported the NDM. He said the party would resort to "serious analysis" to determine why those persons refused to vote and the future direction of the party he founded more than five years ago.
Meantime, Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) said the by-election was carried out in a manner that was "free and fair". But it cautioned that a "more considered judgement can only be made after all the reports of its monitors have been analysed.
CAFFE commended the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) for a job well done but also cautioned that the by-election may not be a reliable test of the readiness of the EOJ for a general election. The reason given was that many of the election officials were drawn from outside the constituency.
CAFFE said the "evident expenditures of Government funds in the constituency in the weeks immediately prior to the by-election is a matter that might also be considered in a review of the code of ethics for elections".
