The Editor, Sir:

It just dawned on me that a whole generation of young people has matured into the right to vote under the same administration. Does the PNP have a lot to be proud of when they look at this group of 18 and under?

This is my third election and for the first time, I am going to vote JLP, even though I have no regard for the candidate in my consti-tuency. And mind you, this is not a vote for JLP; it's a vote against the PNP. They have been in power for far too long, and have been too barefaced with corruption, mis-management and ineffectiveness.

That said though, let me congratulate the PNP ahead of their victory. I believe they will and must win. Why? They have too much at stake. I recently commented to a friend that I admired the vim and vigour of the politicians on both sides, who, despite their mostly old ages, are campaigning passionately and with much fervour.

But the response I got from my friend was, "That's not passion, that's desperation." She pointed out that, because on both sides; there are so many seniors and near seniors, a lot was at stake.

For the JLP, the pursuit of glory and one last taste of victory before age or death forces its members to stand down; for the PNP, the pursuit of a fat pension. As such, all stops will be pulled out to win the election - even cheating ones.

And on a final note, all this pontificating on manifestos and debates as if the corps of Jamaicans who can appreciate that sort of thing has much to do with the outcome of the election. It's the masses, the illiterates and semi-illiterates who decide the election - the throngs who 'born and grow' in support of the PNP or JLP; the many who have been brain-washed or forced into a garrison mindset that does not equate the right to vote with the right to choose.

I am, etc.,

Rohane Riguer

Kingston 8