Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Left: Danville Walker: "We made a mistake, our bad." Right: Donald Buchanan ... has been described as "thoroughbred PNP".- File photos
When the 2007 General Election is chronicled, the names Danville Walker and Donald Buchanan are likely to figure prominently.
Walker, the affable director of elections, and Buchanan, the no-holds-barred general secretary of the People's National Party (PNP), were consistently in the news throughout a lengthy campaign which climaxed with a 33-27 victory by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Both men were still making headlines more than a week after the September 3 polls.
The PNP was angered by a blunder on the part of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) which resulted in two boxes containing ballots of election-day workers and security forces not making the count in the tight South East St. Mary constituency race between the PNP's Harry Douglas and Tarn Peralto of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
After magisterial recount
Peralto was declared winner of the seat by 37 votes after a magisterial recount last Wednesday in Port Maria. On election night, the EOJ named Douglas the winner but reversed that result after the official recount two days later.
Resident Magistrate Sara James-Thompson, who presided over the magisterial recount, did not allow the ballots from the two 'missing' boxes to be counted. It was out of her jurisdiction, she ruled, since they were not present at the counting centre on the day of the election.
In a statement, issued September 11, Buchanan and Douglas questioned the EOJ's competence, and the validity of the South East St. Mary decision.
The burly Walker hit back.
"I am not saying people shouldn't be upset. We made a mistake, our bad," he told The Gleaner one day after the PNP issued its statement. "However, to insinuate that we have these boxes and only (the) threat of a lawsuit is what caused us to produce them is dangerous talk.
"I hold Mr. Douglas and Mr. Buchanan accountable for that language," he added.
Buchanan, the PNP's member on the Electoral Commission, held his ground when he spoke with The Gleaner last Wednesday at PNP headquarters in St. Andrew.
"Danville Walker and I have always had a cordial relationship, nothing has changed," he said. "There are certain statements Danville Walker made in the (election) campaign that I disagreed with, and I have expressed that to him."
Sunday Gleaner columnist and commentator, Lambert Brown, said Buchanan is right to question the validity of the South East St. Mary poll.
"Danville Walker has messed up big time, his job is to ensure that every vote is counted and that did not take place in South East St. Mary," Brown argued.
Taking up the roll
A graduate of City University of New York, the Kingston-born Walker became director of elections in May 1997. His predecessors William Chin See and Major Winston Sutherland endured years of scrutiny from politicians who claimed the EOJ was corrupt.
Walker has helped restore faith in the office and the process, presiding over critical changes, including electronic voter identification cards, a cleaner voters' list, a ballot-issuing system and training for election-day workers.
Last week, he said the closeness of the recent elections made it tough for the EOJ. Walker said he and his staff came under intense pressure.
"Nobody has called me and threatened me personally, but the office has received a number of threats, and that started before the election," he said.
Walker has made news outside of the elections. Last month, residents of Portland Cottage in Clarendon said homes provided by the Office of National Re-construction (of which Walker is head) were substandard.
He has brushed aside calls for his resignation as director of elections.
History of Buchanan
A veteran trade unionist, Danny Buchanan is what former Cabinet colleague, K.D. Knight, calls a "thoroughbred PNP". Originally from the Pedro Plains region of St. Elizabeth, he joined the party in 1958, and has served in various posts including group chairman; councillor; Member of Parliament; State Minister in the Finance and Planning Ministry; Labour and Social Security Minister; and Water and Housing Minister.
Shortly before the 2002 General Election, he announced that his defence of South West St. Elizabeth would be his last. He first won the seat in 1989.
Buchanan supported Dr. Peter Phillips' run for PNP president, a race won by Simpson Miller. He was appointed Information Minister and general secretary last November following the resignation of Colin Campbell in wake of the Trafigura scandal.
Some of his comments during the election campaign got him into hot water.
In July, he ridiculed claims by the JLP that their motorcade in Stony Hill was fired on by gunmen supporting the PNP. Buchanan claimed the bullets came from guns of JLP thugs.
His "dem lie" rant on the issue became popular parody. It earned him a dubious comparison by JLP leader Bruce Golding to Mohammed Saeed al-Shaaf, Saddam Hussein's former Information Minister, more known for fiction than fact.
Buchanan, who says he will continue as general secretary, has no apologies for some of his post- or pre-election statements.
"Absolutely not. There's up to now nothing that I can recall saying which I would want to retract or regret," he said.
Members of the Electoral Commission, (from left) Karl Samuda, Donald Buchanan, Danville Walker, Tom Tavares-Finson and Linton Walters, pose for photographs at King's House. - file
Fact file
Danville Walker and Donald Buchanan both attended Excelsior High School.
Walker worked for four years at his father's bakery.
Walker is an accountant by profession.
Buchanan was an officer at the National Workers' Union.
Buchanan first contested the South West St. Elizabeth seat in 1980, losing to Derrick Sangster of the Jamaica Labour Party.
