WESTERN BUREAU:
MEMBER OF Parliament for North West St. James Dr. Horace Chang, is to challenge fellow MP Edmund Bartlett for the post of Deputy Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at the party's annual conference later this year.
Dr. Chang was unavailable for comment on Tuesday, but a reliable source close to the MP confirmed his intention to challenge Mr. Bartlett at the party's annual conference in November. The source added that Dr. Chang already has the support of key persons within the western region, as well as the party hierarchy. Mr. Bartlett, however, is unmoved by the impending challenge, and expressed confidence that his performance as deputy leader in charge of the party's affairs in western Jamaica will outweigh the challenge.
"My team is solid as a rock," Bartlett told The Gleaner in a telephone interview. "There is nobody who has ever performed better in the west."
Mr. Bartlett said the work of his team in the western region had improved the JLP's standings in all of the five western parishes. Dr. Chang's bid for the deputy leader position has come as a shock to many in the west, as Mr. Bartlett has been credited for the gains made by the JLP in the region in last October's general elections and the recent local government elections. Chang won the NW St. James seat last October after being out of office for thirteen years.
"There were three caretakers when I got here, and today we have 41 councillors, six MPs and four out of five Mayors. Now anyone who is challenging me, has to challenge on that basis," Mr. Bartlett stated.
Political pundits in the region say the election of Dr. Chang as deputy leader is crucial to a growing number of JLP delegates who back Senator Bruce Golding for leadership of the party, pending the departure of party leader Edward Seaga.
Senator Golding is among the likely contenders to vie for the JLP leadership. Derrick Smith, one of four deputy leaders, as well as Pearnel Charles, a former deputy leader, have made it clear that they will be going for the party's top job, whenever Mr. Seaga vacates the post.
