THE OPPOSITION Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was uncertain yesterday if its leader, Bruce Golding would be sworn in as Opposition Leader in time to speak Thursday in the Budget debate in the House of Representatives.
Following his victory in the West Kingston by-election last week, Mr. Golding told The Gleaner he was expected to be sworn in as the new West Kingston Member of Parliament and Opposition Leader sometime this week, to enable him to make his first presentation as Opposition Leader, on Thursday. However, up to yesterday, it was not certain when the swearing-in ceremony would be held.
COMMITTEE TO DECIDE
"We are still working out the logistics," said Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, the JLP spokesperson on information and culture. She added that the party would have decided on the matter at last night's Standing Committee meeting.
In the meantime, Bruce Golding and Joseph 'Bunny' Witter, the two main candidates in last Wednesday's West Kingston by-election, have picked up more votes in the final count by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).
Mr. Golding, who polled 8,225 votes following last week's preliminary count, has now amassed 8,503 votes, compared to Mr. Witter's 1,181. Mr. Witter, the People's National Party candidate, received 1,079 in last week's first count.
The EOJ said the National Democratic Movement's (NDM) Michael Elliott received 12 votes, while independent candidate Ras Astor Black polled nine votes.
There were 67 rejected ballots, bringing the total number of votes cast to 9,772 compared to last week's 9,322.
Following the preliminary count there was a 53 per cent voter turnout, but this increased to 56 per cent in the final count.
