The People's National Party (PNP) hierarchy yesterday brushed aside rumours that president Portia Simpson Miller would be challenged for the top job, after a close defeat in national elections two weeks ago.

"The support for Comrade Portia Simpson Miller as leader of the People's National Party is overwhelming in this party, absolutely overwhelming," Donald Buchanan, general secretary, told The Gleaner yesterday.

He added that "there is absolutely no challenge to Comrade Portia Simpson Miller on the horizon".

The PNP delegates decided yesterday to instruct the party's most powerful body - the National Executive Council (NEC) - to hold a special delegates conference for the election of officers to the party, including the president and the four vice-presidents.

PNP annual conferences over the years take the form of the party hierarchy being reaffirmed in their positions or challenged on the floor. The Gleaner was informed that delegates of the party thought that in the interest of party unity, no elections should be held, deferring that process to a later date to be determined by the NEC.

Knight booed

But this special delegates conference might not take place before year end, as the NEC is not due to meet until November. At this time, it is believed that University of the West Indies (UWI) professor, Brian Meeks, and senior lecturer Richard 'Dickie' Crawford - both in the Department of Government - would have completed their post-mortem of the party's performance in the just-concluded elections and would have made recom-mendations on the way forward.

Meanwhile, K.D. Knight, one of the PNP's stalwarts who was strongly opposed to Portia Simpson Miller's leading the party, was booed at the 69th annual conference yesterday.

Knight, an attorney-at-law and former Member of Parliament, reportedly suggested to the conference during its private mid-morning session that tradition should be upheld and that elections should take place for the post of party president and four vice-presidents.

This was after the party's legal adviser, A.J. Nicholson, was reported to have told the conference that the elections should not be held.

Many of the approximately 10,000 party supporters, delegates and officials that gathered for the party's one-day 'business conference' strongly opposed the suggestion of an election.

Some political commentators and party supporters blamed Knight in part for the PNP's defeat at the polls. Uncharitable comments Knight made made about Simpson Miller before the PNP's internal polls were cannon fodder for Labour Party campaigns ahead of the September 3 general election.

One statement which the JLP used in the campaign pointed to Knight's concerns that popularity was not a substitute for strong leadership and managerial skills.

Even though Knight supported Simpson Miller in the aftermath of the party's presidential race and in the run-up to the national election, some Comrades outside the National Arena felt that Knight had damaged the PNP president's image.