JLP recommends Holness loyalist Delroy Williams for Clarendon Central

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) secretariat has recommended former Kingston Mayor Delroy Williams as the candidate for Clarendon Central, a move that would secure a so-called safe seat for a key lieutenant of party leader and Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

It ends weeks of speculation over who will replace veteran lawmaker Mike Henry as the party’s standard-bearer.

In a statement Tuesday morning, the JLP secretariat said Williams was the only applicant for the position and had secured "widespread support in the constituency."

“His organisational skills are well known and will enhance the legacy of the Jamaica Labour Party in Clarendon,” the party added. The recommendation has been made to the Selection Committee and Central Executive.

Senior party officials met yesterday with several persons seeking to represent the party. The secretariat, led by General Secretary Dr Horace Chang, is racing to complete several contentious selections ahead of general elections due by September.

The announcement follows weeks of internal wrangling over the seat, with supporters of May Pen Mayor Joel Williams—who was endorsed by Henry—crying foul over Delroy Williams' application. The selection process has deepened divisions in the constituency, which has been a JLP stronghold for decades.

Joel Williams told The Gleaner minutes after the statement was issued that he could not comment because he had not yet seen the announcement.

Williams also said he heard about a letter purportedly signed by 21 business leaders in the constituency, urging the party to select him as the constituency representative.

The controversy escalated last month when a JLP delegate sent an email to the media, warning against what she described as an attempt to “parachute” Delroy Williams into Clarendon Central.

She argued that the former Kingston mayor, who is a councillor in Holness' St Andrew West Central constituency, lacked local ties and blamed him for the JLP’s loss of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation in last year’s local government elections.

“It is disheartening to witness the growing trend of the party leadership inserting individuals with little popularity and weak ties into constituencies,” the delegate wrote.

Joel Williams does not enjoy widespread support from persons in the constituency, however.

JLP councillor-caretaker for the May Pen West division Loraine Green Mason said there was a call for new leadership in the JLP stronghold is for new leadership.

“There is an overwhelming support for Senator Williams, and for me, I have no personal vendetta with His Worship the Mayor. My thing is, he should continue to work as the mayor for Clarendon and the parish in general and allow someone with a new vision to propel Central Clarendon in moving forward,” Green Mason said in January.

Henry said at the time that he did not have “a change of mind” about his wish for Joel Williams to replace him.

He has been serving as the Member of Parliament since 1980, making him the joint longest-serving lawmaker in Jamaica's history.

Delroy Williams resigned from the Senate last month.

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