By Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
Senator Bruce Golding is expected to officially offer himself as a contender for leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party at the Jamaica Conference Centre.
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE NATIONAL campaign for Senator Bruce Golding, as a contender for leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), will officially shift into gear next Tuesday at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Mr. Golding, according to opinion surveys conducted by pollster Don Anderson for The Gleaner, is the front-runner to succeed incumbent JLP leader Edward Seaga following his announced retirement at the party's annual conference in November. Pearnel Charles, a trade unionist and former JLP deputy leader, trails Golding in the same survey although Charles has already announced his candidacy for leader.
The JLP chairman and leader of the so-called 'reformist wing' of the party is expected to meet with representatives from across 60 constituencies islandwide along with his 16-member campaign team. The team comprises high-profile JLP members such as Deputy Leader James Robertson, Ruddy Spencer and Dwight Nelson who are senior officers of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union.
"There we hope to basically outline how the process of change and renewal will affect both the party and the country," Dr. Horace Chang told The Gleaner yesterday. "What we have been doing so far is consulting and interfacing with individuals. We have done phase one internally now we go public."
THREE OBJECTIVES
Dr. Chang, who is leading Golding's national campaign team, pointed out that the campaign would be focused on three primary objectives, including a more active and formal role by trade unions and encouraging inactive women to become more involved in politics. The third is re-engaging young people between age 18 to 30 years, who have given up on the political process.
"We are not in anyway reducing the role of traditional business leaders but we want to ensure that the workers, through unions, have an equal say at the table," he explained.
"In today's world, labour and capital are critical to development, labourers need to be educated, involved and productive in order to achieve success," said Chang.
