Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
People's National Party leader Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (centre) arrives for the National Executive Council meeting at the Chemistry Lecture Theatre on Mona campus St. Andrew yesterday.
Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
People's National Party (PNP) president P.J. Patterson will seek re-election in September to continue leading the ruling political organisation.
The announcement could set back the campaign of the party's presidential candidates and a lot of Patterson's critics who had predicted he would quit before the next presidential election.
"The party leader did indicate he was available for nomination in September, and that was met with a big round of applause," PNP chairman Robert Pickersgill told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday at the end of day one of a two-day National Executive Council (NEC)
meeting at the University of the West Indies. "Those who are still attempting to time the party leader got something they have to put in the mix."
Following the PNP's victory at the polls in 2002, Mr. Patterson said he would not lead the party again into another general election, fuelling speculations that he may quit after the parish council elections which is due by May next year.
several persons campaigning
In the past months, several persons in the party have been actively campaigning to lead the PNP when Mr. Patterson quits. Among them are PNP vice-president Portia Simpson Miller who is also Local Government Minister, vice-president Dr. Peter Phillips who is also National Security Minister, party chairman Transport Minister Bobby Pickersgill and Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies.
The PNP's 67th annual conference is scheduled to be held from Friday, September 9 to Sunday, September 11, this year.
If re-elected, Mr. Patterson is likely to make his last address to the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pickersgill said the
PNP president outlined proposals as to how presidential candidates and their
supporters should conduct themselves
in the leadership race.
He added that the idea of a fixed nomination day to select the party's top brass was mooted, following this year's last-minute vice-presidential bid by Paul Burke, the PNP former Region Three chairman.
"What is being proposed is that there's a set nomination date and a period of time between nomination date and election, and when you close off nomination, and what form it will take," Mr. Pickersgill said.
He added that the discussions also involved whether different persons from the party's regions could nominate a candidate after paying a non-refundable fee.
Any registered delegate can now nominate a candidate for a vacant position in the party.
"What the NEC has decided is to send those proposals to a monitoring committee and between it and the party leader, they will come back to annual conference and make those proposals."
Mr. Pickersgill told The Sunday Gleaner that the idea to have PNP members select candidates, rather than delegates, was also discussed. He noted however that the NEC decided that the proposals should be presented as a motion to be debated today.
"If you look at it, you can see the repercussion and the implication of any such change, not to say we are not open to change, but when you are going to change in that kind of way, it has to be thoroughly analysed and debated," he said.
He also stated that the revised Code of Political Conduct would be discussed at today's second day.
