By Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
THURSDAY, MAY 27, is the date set for the election of a new colonel for the Accompong Maroons in St. Elizabeth. This, following months of verbal sparring between the candidates, including over the accuracy of a voters' list.
The final hurdle was cleared on Tuesday when Loxley Salmon, one of the initial four candidates, withdrew his candidacy, on the grounds that he was not prepared to sign off on the voters list, which the Maroon Council and the other three candidates, incumbent colonel Sydney Peddie, former colonel Meridie Rowe and Ralstan Reid, had agreed on.
"I am not satisfied with the number of names on the voters' list," Mr. Salmon told The Gleaner on Tuesday. "There are far too many persons on the list who are not Maroons."
The voter's list had been a source of much controversy initially as all the candidates had rejected it, forcing the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) to turn to the Maroon Council for help in getting the list vetted to the satisfaction of all the candidates. The election was originally slated for Tuesday, April 6.
NOMINATION DAY
In a meeting with the EOJ on Thursday, Colonel Peddie, Mr. Rowe and Mr. Reid all agreed on the list, signalling their readiness for both the Nomination Day and Election Day exercises. With the date now settled, Wednesday, May 19, has been set as Nomination Day.
However, there could well be one last interesting twist on Nomination Day for although officially declaring that he had pulled out of the race, Salmon in an apparent about face told The Gleaner, "I have been getting a lot of support from Maroons here in Jamaica and overseas so on Nomination Day I could still, therefore, decide to run."
For a confident Mr. Rowe, who had successful battled to prevent a constitutional change, which would have resulted in the polling stations outside of Accompong being closed and all the voting done in the maroon village, he is elated that a date has been set: "It is about time we get it over with."
In early February, Colonel Peddie declared that he thought it was wrong to have polling stations outside of the maroon village and indicated that he would be taking steps to close the stations located in Aberdeen, Windsor, Cedar Spring, Elderslie, Garlands, and the EOJ's offices in Montego Bay and Kingston.
