Simpson Miller
PORTIA SIMPSON Miller yesterday emerged as the next president of the People's National Party (PNP) and, within weeks, will be crowned the first woman Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Mrs. Simpson Miller polled 1,775 delegate votes in what turned out to be a two-man race between herself and Dr. Peter Phillips who garnered 1,538.
Dr. Omar Davies ran a distant third with 283 votes and Dr. Karl Blythe polled 204. Of 3,808 votes, eight were rejected.
The announcement was greeted with ear-splitting cheers from the crowd gathered at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew. Almost as soon as outgoing Prime Minister P.J. Patterson revealed the winner, the announcement was made over the public address system at the nearby National Stadium where thousands of spectators attending the Gibson Relays erupted in equally deafening applause. She later visited the games to tumultuous applause and did a 'victory lap'.
TIME TO REUNITE
In accepting the will of the nearly 4,000 PNP delegates, Mrs. Simpson Miller said it was time for the party to reunite after an admittedly bitter campaign.
"Now it's time for unity and if there are wounds to be healed, it's time for healing," she told the crowd at PNP headquarters after being greeted to the stage with Shaggy's Strength of a Woman.
But yesterday, it appeared that only candidates Dr. Davies and Dr. Blythe would join Mrs. Simpson Miller in showing that sign of unity. Dr. Phillips, whose campaign had been the chief source of tension for Mrs. Simpson Miller's team, was not initially called and did not come to the stage. However, Dr. Phillips eventually joined the new party president-designate and congratulated her on winning.
Foreign Affairs Minister K.D. Knight, who has had a seemingly bitter public relationship with Mrs. Simpson Miller, said: "The delegates have spoken and in the true democratic tradition we have to accept what they have said."
Mr. Patterson told the crowd that the Cabinet and all Government MPs had agreed to accept the will of the delegates and select the new party president to be the nation's seventh Prime Minister.
Candidate votes
Portia Simpson Miller 1,775 Peter Phillips 1,538Omar Davies 283 Karl Blythe 204 3,808 votes (8 rejected)
