Left: William 'Bill' Clarke (left), president of the Bank of Nova Scotia, has pulled his candidacy for president of the PSOJ.   Right: Christopher Zacca, deputy chairman of the ATL Group of companies, is now the sole contender for the PSOJ presidency. - File Photos

William 'Bill' Clarke has withdrawn his candidacy for Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) president, saying the vote Tuesday at the trade association's annual general meeting rejecting his reform proposals was tantamount to a rejection of his bid, clearing the way for Christopher Zacca to take the prize.

Clarke, in an acerbic statement issued yesterday morning, also pulled membership of his company, Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited/Scotiabank Jamaica, a $200 billion operation valued on total assets, from the PSOJ.

"It is evident that if your views run contrary to those who believe in incumbency, you will have no place at the table," said the banker, whose business acumen has kept Scotia-bank's profits growing for ten years to its current record of $6.8 billion.

"As a consequence, the company that I represent will cease to be a member of the PSOJ with immediate effect."

But outgoing president Beverley Lopez, signaling that Clarke may have acted too quickly, said he could have drawn support from the new council that was elected Tuesday.

The withdrawal, Lopez said, "was his call, not mine."

For the first time in the PSOJ's history, a contest for the presidency was launched when Zacca, deputy chairman of the ATL Group of Companies and former head of Air Jamaica whose continued financial troubles sparked its buyback by government in December 2004, entered the race to counter Clarke's platform of constitutional reform.

Zacca did not return calls for comment on yesterday's developments. For now he remains the sole contender for the presidency, but anyone can forward, said Lopez, up to the date of the vote 14 days after the selection of council. The presidency will therefore be decided by December 19.

If no new rivals emerge, Zacca will be elected by acclamation, Lopez told the Financial Gleaner.

Clarke, in an entreaty to the three-decade old PSOJ, had invited members "not to be afraid to take visionary steps" with him, proposing an expansion of the officer corps to broaden representation of the membership, and the creation of two new positions for a legal advisor and an advisor on economic and taxation policy.

He initially proposed restructuring the 50-member council to include 20 per cent of associations, down from 50 per cent; 70 per cent of companies, up from 40 per cent; and to retain individuals at 10 per cent, but subsequently backed down from that position in an interview with the Financial Gleaner.

Zacca, a traditionalist, claimed the plan would split the PSOJ apart, and issued his own appeal that Clarke "not be allowed to change and unravel decades of effective private sector lobbying and leadership."

The PSOJ at its AGM Tuesday, by voting down Clarke's plan, effectively set aside its concerns that Zacca's presidency could be overshadowed by his ebullient boss Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, and reaffirmed itself as an association that preferred tradition over change.

Concerns of an apparent widening rift between the government and Zacca's boss, Stewart, over Air Jamaica and the Sandals Whitehouse project, would likely have been abated somewhat by the front page photo of the kiss the hotel mogul planted on Portia Simpson Miller on the weekend, carried in the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

Clarke acknowledged his defeat as democracy at work.

"My candidacy for the presidency of the PSOJ has been defeated by a democratic process," said the banker.

"The members of the PSOJ have elected the president that they desire, and the status quo will certainly remain."

Clarke, in his capacity as president of the Jamaica Banker's Association (JBA), remains a member of the new PSOJ Council, which will vote in a new president and officer corps on December 14.

As a member association of the PSOJ, the JBA president - Clarke - will likely be among the voted back on the PSOJ executive committee, which comprises, the president, vice presidents, and honorary members and associations, to serve with Zacca, in the event the ATL executive claims the presidency.

Current PSOJ Executive:

Beverley Lopez, president

Earl Jarrett, vice-president

Donovan Perkins, vice-president

Dr Nigel Clarke, vice president

Lola Fong Wright, PSOJ executive director

Oliver Clarke, immediate past president

Don Wehby, honorary treasurer

William McConnell, honorary secretary

Audrey Hinchcliffe, JEF president

Andre Gordon, JEA president

William 'Bill' Clarke, JBA president

Horace Peterkin, JHTA president

Earl Moore, IAJ president

Michael Bernard, SAJ president

Keith Duncan, JSDA president