By Howard Walker, Staff Reporter 
Robertson, Grange, Chang And Bartlett
CLOSE TO 4,500 delegates from four Area Councils of the Jamaica Labour Party will today decide who they want as deputy leaders in what is being touted by political and media pundits as a contest between the party's old and new guard.
The elections are to be supervised by the Electoral Office of Jamaica at the party's 60th annual conference at the National Arena.
According to political analysts, if party stalwarts, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, 57 and Edmund Bartlett, 52; are defeated by James Robertson, 37 and Dr Horace Chang, 49 respectively, it could mean a victory for the new guard.
Such a victory is also being seen as the laying of the base for the bid that Bruce Golding will eventually make for the leadership of the party, once Edward Seaga, who has been at the helm of the party for 29 years, decides to pass on the baton.
The delegates play a pivotal role in the party according to the Deputy General Secretary, Arthur Williams.
"They are very critical because those who are elected must come from the constituency organisation. That is your indoor agency, your supervisors. They are the leadership of the constituency," said Williams who will be seeking to be elected as the JLP's General Secretary. That selection happens in another two weeks.
According to Williams, the delegates are determined by a calculation of one per cent of the votes obtained in the last election.
"If the constituency gets 5,000 votes then it will get 50 delegates. But those who win get additional delegates based on the percentage point on which they win," he noted.
For example, Mr. Seaga got 11,251 votes in West Kingston that entitles him to 113 delegates. But he also got 84 per cent of the votes to the PNP's 16 per cent. The difference is 68 percentage points. So he gets 68 extra delegates. The constituency therefore would have 181 delegates.
The party structure is broken down into four Area Councils:
Area Council One headed by 59 year old Derrick Smith, has 974 delegates.
Area Council Two comprising St. Catherine, Portland, St. Thomas and St. Mary, has the most delegates of 1,316. It is headed by Ms. Grange.
Area Council Three headed by the 51 year-old Audley Shaw, has 1,097 delegates and comprises the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Ann.
Area Council Four led by Edmund Bartlett has 1,107 delegates from five parishes - St. Elizabeth, Hanover, St. James, Westmoreland and Trelawny.
