JLP election nominations heat up

Veteran politician Mike Henry has made good on his plan to challenge for the post of chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Henry, the fiercely combative member of parliament for Central Clarendon and minister of transport and works, submitted his bid on Monday as the nominations opened for the JLP officer posts which will be up for grabs in less than two weeks.

It is reported that sitting chairman, Dr Ken Baugh, will not be up for re-election when the nomination period closes on Sunday.

In addition to Henry, Robert Montague, the member of parliament for Western St Mary, submitted a bid for the deputy chairman post, which is now held by Rudyard Spencer.

Up to late yesterday, party insiders were unable to say if Spencer would be offering himself for another term, as widely expected.

Keen contest

In the meantime, the anticipated keen contest for the general secretary post is now well under way, with Aundré Franklin and Daryl Vaz being nominated on Monday.

Late yesterday, reports surfaced that a third candidate, former caretaker for Central Kingston, Dr Charlton Collie, is also poised to submit a bid for the post to be vacated by Karl Samuda, who has led the party's secretariat for the past seven years.

Collie has reportedly collected nominations papers but efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.

The contest for the powerful general secretary post is generating most interest in JLP circles, as the high-profile minister with responsibility for information, Vaz, faces off with the hard-working and efficient parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Health, Franklin. Collie, if he enters, is not expected to feature.

Vaz and Franklin have been going all out to capture the majority of votes from the approximately 180 members of the Central Executive, who will elect the officers at the party's Belmont Road headquarters on December 5.