Garwin Davis, Gleaner Writer

The failure of the People's National Party (PNP) to find a candidate to replace Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba in South East St. Ann, has created yet another political storm for the governing party with reports now surfacing that one of its prominent sitting councillors will be running as an independent candidate in the upcoming general election.

Vinette Robb, councillor for the Calderwood division, has reportedly told PNP officials that she will be running as an independent candidate if the party should go ahead with plans to bring in 'an outsider' to run for the seat being vacated by Mrs. Assamba. PNP councillor for the Bensonton division, Lydia Richards, and her colleague councillor for the Moneague division, Lloyd Garrick, have indicated that they would be supporting the candidacy of Ms. Robb.

The trio reportedly made the decision following the party's abrupt decision to call off the slated run-off between the four contenders who were vying to replace Assamba, and also subsequent reports that prominent banker and former PNP politician Peter Bunting is all but a done deal to become the new caretaker. It is also worth noting that all three councillors were publicly opposed to Mrs. Assamba remaining as the PNP candidate in South East St. Ann.

Contacted yesterday, Ms. Robb said she was not commenting publicly as she had not yet heard from the party as to what was the final decision with regard to who would be replacing Mrs. Assamba. "When that decision is made I will have no problem stating my position," Ms. Robb said. "All I will say now is just for us to wait and see."

Will not sit well

Mr. Garrick was, however, a little more forthright. "All I can say is that whether it is Mr. Bunting or someone else from the outside, this will not sit well with people in this constituency," he said. "I really don't want to say any more until the party has made its decision official, I will have a lot to say then." Ms. Richards could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Bunting, former MP for Clarendon South Eastern told The Gleaner yesterday that while he has been contacted by "senior comrades" regarding the possibility of contesting the seat, a decision has not been made regarding his availability. "I am a senior executive with a bank so I would have an obligation for it to be reported on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as opposed to speaking about it with a reporter," he quipped. "The truth is that nothing has yet been decided."

Last year, Mrs. Assamba publicly declared that she would be quitting representational politics. Her decision followed protests from some party supporters who felt she was not doing much for the constituency.

PNP General Secretary, Donald Buchanan had scheduled April 15 for the planned runoff between the four contenders seeking to replace Assamba. The aspirants: Engineer Donald McDowell, environmentalist Bevon Morrison, businesswoman Sheree Brown-McDonald and executive director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Lenworth Fulton were however advised at the eleventh hour that there would be no runoff as the party had a problem with the voters' list.

Senior party sources however noted that the cancellation was "a cop out" by forces within the party who felt that Brown-McDonald was a shoo-in and were adamant against her candidacy. "There is a lot more to this than what the naked eye can see and you may well find that the Jamaica Labour Party candidate Peter Fakhourie may well win this seat by default on election night," the source said. "If Ms. Robb goes ahead as an independent, she will split the PNP vote and Peter Fakhourie will win. mark my words."

South East St. Ann is the only seat in Jamaica that has never been won by the JLP.