By Vernon Daley, Staff ReporterEDWARD SEAGA'S Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) last night ruptured its long string of election defeats when it trounced the governing People's National Party (PNP) in a decisive victory to take the Local Government elections.
Final results were not available up to late last night. However, preliminary reports suggest that the JLP won 11 of the 12 Parish Councils plus the Kingston
and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). The PNP only managed to hold on to the Westmoreland Parish Council.
A POWERFUL MESSAGE
At the same time, the PNP's George Lee will be the first mayor of the newly created Portmore municipality in St. Catherine, after defeating the JLP's Keith Hinds in a close race.
Mr. Seaga suggested to jubilant JLP supporters, who gathered at the party's Belmont Road headquarters last night, that the victory represents a message from the people that they were fed up with the administration of the PNP.
"We asked the people to send a message and they sent a powerful message," Mr. Seaga said.
He congratulated JLP councillors for their work, adding that the win for the party means a better balance in government as well as a stronger voice for the Opposition in Local Government reform.
"For those who seek hope, this is hope. For those who are looking to the future, we treat this not as the end of the beginning but the beginning of the end," he said to loud applause and the ringing of bells.
The JLP's victory at the polls is a dramatic turn of the political tables, given that it controlled none of the councils going into the elections. In the last Local Government poll, held in September 1998, the PNP grabbed all 12 councils and the KSAC.
Yesterday's victory for the party is also likely to strengthen the hand of Mr. Seaga and silence many of his critics. The JLP leader has been under constant pressure within and outside of the JLP to resign against the background of his poor record which up to now was studded with seven straight defeats in General and Local Government polls.
But while Labourites rejoiced, there was gloom at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters. President of the PNP and Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told
disappointed supporters that the
results are not what "we would have liked, but when you look at the voting pattern, we are doing what keeps us within striking distance for the next round."
In a press briefing later, Mr. Patterson suggested that it was not the best time to have gone to the electorate, given factors such as the controversy over the recent budget presentation, but it was done in pursuit of a commitment to hold the elections at this time.
Since 1962 this is only the second time that a governing party has lost the Local Government elections. In 1986, the JLP lost to the PNP, having been in office for six years.
The PNP has occupied office for the past 14 years and last October succeeded in winning a fourth consecutive term as Government. Despite its win last year, the party slipped badly, losing 16 of the 50 seats it held in the House of Representatives. It now controls 34 seats compared to the JLP's 26.
VOTER TURNOUT
The usually low voter turnout, associated with Local Government elections, was again evident yesterday as voters trickled into polling stations across the island to cast their ballots. Election officials estimated that just about 40 per cent of the 1.3 million people on the voters' list turned out to dip their fingers in ink.
Director of Elections, Danville Walker, yesterday described the elections as a success and praised the efforts of Election Day workers and the security forces. He added that the new electronic voter identification system that was tested in Eastern St. Andrew, worked well.
"There were comparatively less incidents today than the General Elections and everyone worked together to make today possible," Mr. Walker told journalists at a press briefing held at the Election Centre, Hope Road, St. Andrew.
Reports are that voting was generally smooth throughout the day but was marred by a few violent incidents as well as some attempts at electoral fraud.
