Holness endorses Miller for SE St Catherine

Robert "Big Rob" Miller, the man the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is putting up to challenge the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Colin Fagan in South East St Catherine, received a big endorsement from Prime Minister Andrew Holness this afternoon, as the party readies for the next general election. 

General elections are expected to be held this year, although the elections are not constitutionally due until 2021. 

Holness who was addressing an Area Two Council meeting at the Portmore HEART Academy in the constituency, said he has known Miller for a long time and was confident in his abilities to move the constituency forward.

However, he warned that winning South East St Catherine was not going to be easy.

“You have a difficult talk ahead of you. I am not here to tell you that it is going to be a walk over, I am not hear to sugar coat anything, but what I do know is that this constituency has long shown the willingness and the intention to vote for a Jamaica Labour Party representative,” Holness said.

PNP arrogant and disrespectful

Holness believes the PNP has grown arrogant and disrespectful to constituents to their own detriment.

“You have going up against a political organisation and machinery that has never been challenged really and so they have had a free run, but that is their disadvantage. But in that free run, they have not done anything with the stretch of time," he said. 

He continued: “The stretch of time that they have had, they have also grown comfortable and arrogant and disgraceful and negligent. And now is the time Big Rob to put yourself out there without being abashed, without being fearful, with all the courage and dynamism and show the people your good heart and good intentions." 

Holness urged Miller to demonstrate to constituents that he is capable of providing change.

“Let them see through you and see the real person who wants to represent them … somebody who they can depend on, somebody who will be faithful to them, someone who understand their needs, someone who is capable of making positive change in this community,” Holness charged. 

South Eastern St Catherine was won by 528 votes in the February 2016 general election. 

The incumbent has been winning by a reduced majority over the last two elections. Some residents have complained that Fagan, who was a supporter of Peter Bunting’s failed Rise United campaign for leadership of the PNP, has not been performing.

However, Fagan is expected to remain as the PNP's standard bearer.

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