Thomas vows court action to block plans to remove direct election of Portmore mayor

Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas is defending the process of Portmore residents directly electing their mayor, vowing to go to court to challenge legislative changes passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

During the debate in the House on a bill to establish Portmore as the nation’s 15th parish, it was revealed that the legislation would result in the removal of the current process by which a mayor is determined.

However, at yesterday’s general meeting of the Portmore Municipal Council, Deputy Mayor Alrick Campbell questioned what steps the municipality would take to protect the will of the people, who had decisively voted for their directly elected mayor at the February 2024 local government elections.

In response, Thomas assured the council that legal action was imminent.

“I can assure this body that we will be taking steps to protect the rights of the more than 25,000 Portmore residents who voted to directly elect their mayor. Yes, we will see them in court,” Thomas declared.

His statement comes in reaction to the Government’s move to repeal the City of Portmore Charter, effectively eliminating the direct election of the mayor and reverting to the selection process used in other municipal corporations, where councillors of the winning party choose the mayor.

Thomas fiercely criticised the Government’s actions, calling them undemocratic.

“How could a government be so unconscionable to, with the stroke of a pen, undo the democratic right of the people of Portmore? Their participation in the recent local government election is a demonstration that they revered this right and the concept of direct election of their mayor,” Thomas stated.

He pointed to the nearly 15,000 votes he received and the more than 10,000 votes cast for his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) opponent as evidence of the people’s commitment to this process.

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“The nearly 15,000 people who voted for me to be their mayor and those Jamaica Labour Party voters – just over 10,000 of them – who voted for my opponent is a demonstration of their will to preserve what they fought for in 2003 when they requested this process. For the Government to deprive them of that right is anti-democratic and borders on authoritarianism,” Thomas said.

The discussion at the council meeting was passionate, with all People’s National Party (PNP) councillors backing Thomas’ decision to contest the matter in court.

Waterford Councillor Fenley Douglas argued that any change to Portmore’s governance should involve a public referendum.

“We can’t become a parish by way of promises and political gerrymandering. As I stand here, Mr Chairman, I recall the promises made by the prime minister – notably the setting of term limits for election in his first 100 days of being elected. After nine years, Mr Chairman, we are still waiting on the fulfilment of this promise,” Douglas stated.

However, JLP Minority Leader Courtney Edwards defended the Government’s decision, arguing that Portmore needs a new direction.

“The city municipality concept was an experiment, and the period is over. We now have to move to another era,” Edwards stated. He suggested that with limited land for expansion, high-rise developments should be considered for Portmore’s future growth.

Thomas strongly rejected Edwards’ view, asserting that the municipality had been a successful model.

“This is an experiment that works, and instead of going backwards, we should be looking at replicating this concept in other municipal corporations throughout Jamaica. Frankly, the impasse in the Clarendon Parish Council now – where the people’s business is put on hold because of the failure to decide who sits in the mayoral chair after the recent by-election – would never have happened if the people of Clarendon had voted for their mayor,” Thomas added.

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