Jamaica Labour Party revved up
Published:Monday | November 22, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
Officials of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) emerged from their 67th annual conference yesterday upbeat after a massive crowd turned out for the public session.
There were fears that JLP supporters would shy away from the conference following reports that former deputy leader for Area Council Four, Dr Horace Chang, had told his supporters not to attend, plus the lingering anger over the Government's handling of the bloody Tivoli Gardens blitz, as well as the hollow ring of the party's iconic bell to deliver on the mantra 'jobs, jobs and more jobs'.
But yesterday, the National Arena was flooded by a tsunami of Labourites, the noisy throng including the vanquished Chang.
From early in the morning, overloaded buses - like motorised spiders with flailing arms and legs - raced on the streets of the Corporate Area to their destination. At least one male supporter ignored police warnings to his peril, dying after being sent flying from the top of a Coaster bus.
By just before 2 p.m., when party leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding arrived, there was no room in the arena, which is built to accommodate 7,000 people.
The cacophonous spillover of bell-ringers and pot clatterers flowed into the parking lot and around the entrance of the National Indoor Sports Centre.
"This is not the biggest conference that we have had, but it is certainly bigger than I was expecting," said 60-year-old Nathan Briggs.
"This is the biggest conference that we have had since 2006. It far surpasses last year despite the adverse reports from some sections of the media and the recent poll reports," said a frequent-talk show caller known as 'Nephew'.
Lion awaken
Another talk-show regular, who goes by the moniker 'Jamintel', was also upbeat.
"When Labourites (are) under pressure, we come out, and the best thing that the PNP (People's National Party) could do is wake the sleeping lion," he said.
On the conference platform, the leadership of the JLP was also satisfied that its mobilisation efforts had managed to drag out the party's base.
"The truth of the matter is that there have been a lot of distractions and there is a perception out there, somewhat fuelled by the media, that the Labour Party was not able to energise its base, but we can now see, and I had predicted that today would have been a bigger conference than last year," said Daryl Vaz, one of two candidates vying to replace Karl Samuda, the party's outgoing general secretary.
"We are a party that is united. Dr Chang is here, Dr (Christopher) Tufton is here, and we are a united party. ... This is not a rented crowd," added Aundré Franklin, who is taking on Vaz in the dogfight for the reins of the secretariat.
Tufton defeated Chang in last week's bitterly contested deputy leadership election for Area Council Four.