Mandeville, Manchester - The election campaign which has been going on in Manchester since the start of the year got into gear, with both the PNP and the JLP courting voters of the parish with high-profile public meetings in Mandeville.

Coming two weeks after the PNP's, the JLP's meeting was led by party leader, Edward Seaga, after the party conducted a day-long tour of the parish on Saturday, going into districts far removed from the limelight of the more popularly known towns and districts.

Following party generals Mike Henry, Pearnel Charles, Delroy Chuck and Audley Shaw, among others, who had the crowd throbbing to a mix of music and fiery speeches, Edward Seaga entered the square to cheers and shouts of thousands of green flag waving supporters.

As the sound system blasted, 'Papa Eddie is the conscious one', the crowd responded with no more third term for P.J., chiming in that Bustamante did not get it, Norman Manley did not get it, Shearer did not get it, nor did Seaga, so P.J. can't get it.

With candidates of the party from Clarendon, St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, and Manchester all contributing to the evening's affair in their replayed attack on the government of the day, the crowd which filled the streets from the market to the courthouse was particularly hyped up when Audley Shaw highlighted the plight of the farmers and the loss of jobs due to the closure of factories, including the garment factory, Manchester Apparel.

A chilling silence overcame the crowd for a brief moment when Delroy Chuck chronicled the injustices which he said took place in Tivoli Gardens during the well-publicised police operation there earlier this year. According to Mr. Chuck: "Jamaica cannot be peaceful, until there is justice for all its people. I am again calling on the sheriff K.D. Knight to give the people of Tivoli Gardens justice, where men, children and women were shot by the security forces."

As speaker after speaker got their turn to speak, very few PNP ministers or candidates were left unscathed, with several taking particular aim at Minister of Finance Dr. Omar Davies for bailing out banks, big businesses and insurance companies, while the Minister cannot find the money to bail out education or the poor, according to them.

Pearnel Charles, for his part, predicted that this election will be the biggest upset in the history of the country, for there is no way the present government can be elected for a third term.

In what appeared to be an explanation of his continued support for the party leader, Mr. Charles told the crowd that "you don't have to like Seaga" to work with him, for no one can accuse him of "corruption or question his integrity".

When Seaga got to the mike, the crowd, which had by now reached its peak in hype, listened to his every word. Mr. Seaga said the polls showing the PNP likely to win the next election should not be taken as reality.

The JLP, he said, is a mighty army for the poor and the PNP will not be remembered for the houses it built, but for the bail-outs it has given and only the JLP can and has a plan to bail-out the poor and jobless in Jamaica.

Mr. Seaga became intensely serious when he reminded those who would question his loyalty to the country that he was a citizen of both Jamaica and the United States, but by his choice he chose to be a Jamaican only.