#JaVotes2020 | Labourites start partying early in PM's constituency
Published:Thursday | September 3, 2020 | 4:05 PM
Jovan Johnson/Senior Staff Reporter
COVID-19-related social distancing be damned; dozens of Labourites have started a massive party on Olympic Way, St Andrew, which they expect to culminate with a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) election win this evening.
Reminiscent of the usual but missed atmosphere at political rallies, party songs were played from a truck as street vendors navigated the dense crowds as flags, bells, bikes, and cheers collided in a green-painted frenzy outside the St Andrew West Central constituency office of JLP leader Andrew Holness.
Briefly as light-turning-heavy droplets from the skies heralded some oncoming showers, the Labourites remained planted.
They were right, anyway, as the showers ended abruptly.
Kievakay Barrett, 27, said she was determined to stay to support her "leada".
"Me waah Andrew fi win – me nice, clean prime minister," said the Tower Hill resident. "Me deh here fi support di winnings."
Shaking to the latest beat was her neighbour, Aiquila Roberts.
The 18-year-old, who also hails from Tower Hill, said that "nothing" could stop her from being out to support Holness.
"Me haffi support. Andrew mi seh," she told The Gleaner. "Imagine the party later?"
"Andrew ago still be prime minister after this. Memba me seh so," a peanut vendor shouted while making his way to a potential customer as several PNP supporters were seen looking on in silence from the fringes.
He stopped abruptly and pointed to the skies as the popular Labour Party Marching On song started playing.
The supporters, many in masks, though below the nose for some, were tightly packed on either side of the street outside the Olympic Gardens Civic Centre.
The atmosphere reached fever pitch when the music selector started to goad the women into a dancing competition in the streets, later pleading with some to clear the way for motor vehicles.
Holness voted earlier today at the Mona High School in St Andrew Eastern, the constituency in which he lives.
He's seeking a sixth straight term as Member of Parliament for St Andrew West Central. For the fifth time, he's being challenged by Patrick Roberts of the People's National Party.