Will the region decide the next election? - Where the west goes, the rest goes By Garwin Davis, Staff Reporter WESTERN BUREAU: THE CAMPAIGN leading up to the next general election, constitutionally due in 2002, has begun in earnest with the two main political parties holding meetings in the critical battle ground county of Cornwall better known in political circles as Region Six. What is the significance? Political pundits have argued over the years, real or imagined, that wherever the West goes, the rest of the country usually follows. And based on the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) holding rallies a stone's throw away from each other in Westmoreland and Hanover respectively week before last Sunday night, it would appear as if the political parties are also convinced that the battle for Jamaica House will be decided in the western region. "This is PNP country," declared Dr. Wykeham McNeill, Member of Parliament for Western Westmoreland. "All 14 council seats in this area are held by the PNP, the only parish where this is so. We also have three members of parliament and we all know that wherever the west goes the rest of the country goes." Chairman for the region, Derrick Kellier, was even more forthright. "There are people going around saying that we are not prepared in the region but whenever the Prime Minister decides to fly the gate they will all have another thing coming," he said. "The West will dictate where the rest of the country will go and we are prepared to return all nine seats in the region for the PNP. We have benefited tremendously in the region and we have to repay the government we are ready when the Prime Minister is." The opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is also convinced that the western region is theirs to lose. Several months ago at a rally in Westmoreland the Prime Minister's domain Mr. Seaga noted that it was not by coincidence that he was kicking off the JLP's campaign in the Prime Minister's constituency, noting that the JLP was bent on sweeping all the seats in the region. At the recent Sunday meeting in Hopewell, Hanover, he reiterated his remarks that the JLP was very strong in the region and that the people had seen enough of the PNP and badly wanted a change. Deputy leader, Edmund Bartlett, the JLP's point man in the West, notes that the days of taking the people in the region for granted had long passed and that the PNP were now on borrowed time. "There are no uncertainties in the JLP camp in the West," Mr. Bartlett said. "The PNP are having problems filling their slate of candidates and are running scared. They know that it is only a matter of time and what you are seeing from them now is just sheer desperation." It is difficult to gauge the kind of support the parties do actually have on the ground. The crowds at the rallies, for both parties, have been huge but may not be a true indicator considering that the traditional "bussing" in of supporters doesn't usually paint a true picture of the party's strength in the area. What is also evident, is that despite pronouncements at rallies in the West from the two parties about running a campaign based on the issues, it is quite obvious that their cohorts and supporters are singing a different tune. Race, Chi Chi Man and GCT appear to be the slogans of choice by the parties and seem likely to play an integral role on the campaign trail. "The PNP having failed at vilifying and denigrating my character in the Corporate Area will be trying to use their dirty tricks down here in the West," Mr. Seaga said. "They are a desperate party which has run out of ideas and will resort to any means necessary, including violence, to stay in power." But Prime Minister P.J. Patterson believes that the JLP is only trying to create a smoke screen for what he said was an inevitable defeat. "We will be campaigning on our achievements as I don't believe in political assassinations and have never engaged in the practice," he declared. "I noticed that they are having a meeting in Hopewell tonight but I guess some people can hope against hope. We will be taking home all the seats in the region and this they know fully well."
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