Labourites ring bells for Charles
Published:Monday | February 10, 2020 | 12:13 AM
Busloads of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters descended on the party’s Belmont Road headquarters in New Kingston last week to voice their support for Dr Michelle Charles, who is seeking to run on the party’s ticket in Eastern St Thomas.
JLP officers were, at the time, deliberating on a number of issues at their standing committee meeting when the supporters, clad in green, made their entrance on the party’s ground.
Charles, The Gleaner understands, has been working in Eastern St Thomas in an effort to square off against the People’s National Party’s Dr Fenton Ferguson in a battle between dentists.
However, up to late last week, the party has yet to give her the nod for the seat.
Charles, who was on the ground at Belmont Road, addressed her supporters and told them that it was time for the constituency to be counted in the winning columns for the JLP.
“I want to represent all of us. The time has come for a change. It is time for Eastern St Thomas to shine. We tired of the foolishness. Everybody here deserves an opportunity to get on the prosperity train,” Charles said as she addressed her supporters.
“A you wi come fah!”, one of the supporters replied, ringing a bell.
“I am the woman for the job! Done with the PNP, done with them,” Dr Charles added.
BETTER OUTCOME
Charles is seeking to have a better outcome than her sister, Patrece Charles Freeman who ran on the JLP ticket and lost to Dr Ferguson in the 2011 general election.
Her father, Pearnel Charles Sr, has had success in the seat, however, and has literal roots there with his sugar cane farms.
Ferguson is a six-time member of parliament for Eastern St Thomas, having entered the Lower House of Parliament in 1993 after defeating the JLP’s Pearnel Charles Sr to bring an end to the 45-year reign of the Labour Party in that constituency.
The JLP, up to news time, was unable to say what was the outcome of the meeting on whether there was an agreement to officially recognise the dentist as the party’s standard-bearer in St Thomas.
The party is also deliberating on the Central Manchester and North West St Ann seats.