Familial loyalties divided

Despite familial ties, relatives of the People’s National Party’s Omar Robinson on Monday indicated that their allegiance to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) took precedence over their support for his political aspirations.

While declaring that they were supportive of his ambition to enter politics and contest the Alligator Pond division in Manchester, they were disappointed in the 45-year-old’s choice of political affiliation and, instead, threw their support behind his challenger, the JLP’s Martin Gill.

“It’s not all about him. It’s all about the party. If a did him personally [we would support him], … but it’s all about the party. Mi nuh like di party, and mi can’t go wid him,” Robinson’s cousin, Maxine Nelson, told The Gleaner.

His grandaunt, Aline Marshall, proudly declared that she was a diehard Labourite.

“Straight Showa wi a vote, and mi nah stop until God tek mi likkle breath from mi,” she said.

Marshall and other relatives gathered in the square in Alligator Pond after casting their votes at the local primary school.

They were among a growing crowd of voters who congregated in the square, playing music, enjoying jerked chicken, and engaging in robust political debates as they awaited the results of the election.

Marshall noted that despite urging from other members of the family to contest the election on the JLP ticket, Robinson chose the PNP as his mother was a supporter of the party.

And although he ran an admirable campaign, she was doubtful that he would win.

“Mi nuh feel so because three-quarters of the people in Alligator Pond [are] Labourites, and him nuh have the young [voters] behind him,” she said.

However, she said that although the family was split politically, their love for each other remained strong.

But while acknowledging that his family switching their political affiliation to support him would “make a good story”, Robinson, a first-time candidate, said his focus was on retaining the division for the PNP.

“That is something I would have known before I entered to represent the People’s National Party, and we would have won each local government election with them not supporting the candidate. So there was nothing that I could have brought to the table in terms of strategy on how to deal with it. My main strategy was to bring out the PNP base,” he said.

The division is considered a PNP stronghold, but it was won by the party in the 2016 local government elections by only 158 votes.

Robinson explained that it was the PNP’s ideology that drew him to the party.

“When I was introduced to that book about Michael Manley, the philosophies of the People’s National Party and how they’re connected with people, and the theme ‘People Power’ resonates with what I do on a daily basis in my community, touching base with people, caring for people, and generally, just looking for the upliftment of people,” the teacher of 27 years said.

“I started as a pre-trained [teacher] and then I sent myself to college and now have a bachelor’s [degree] in physical education and sports,” he said of his teaching career.

Robinson currently teaches at New Forest Primary School.

The father of one said he campaigned on a platform of developing his native community.

“It’s, basically, letting the tax dollars work for the people. We want them to see the benefits of their tax dollars in parochial roads, in how we take care of our drain-cleaning exercises, and, basically, the streetside – the debushing programme,” he said.

“Streetlight is really one of those things that need to focus on because I think that contributes to the levels of crime that we’re seeing. Some of the areas are too dark, [leading to issues such as] praedial larceny,” he continued, adding that he would also be focusing on the water situation.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com