Jamaica’s Electoral Commission (ECJ) faced a significant hiccup as it revised the outcome of the recent local government elections held on February 26.
The updated tally states that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won control of seven local authorities while the People’s National Party (PNP) won six, including the Portmore Municipality.
A noteworthy deadlock emerged with a 20-20 tie reported for the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).
This revision dealt a blow to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), which initially declared seven wins for the JLP and five for the PNP.
The PNP maintains its assertion of victory, emphasizing its lead in both the popular vote in Kingston and St Andrew and nationwide.
The ECJ clarified that the JLP secured victories in St Thomas, Portland, Clarendon, St James, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, and St Ann, while the PNP prevailed in Westmoreland, Hanover, St Mary, St Catherine, Manchester, and Portmore, where it dominated nine of the 12 electoral divisions.
For the KSAMC, where both parties will have 20 councilors each, the PNP, having garnered the majority of votes, will determine the mayor, followed by the JLP selecting the deputy mayor.
The ECJ set the KSAMC meeting for Thursday, March 7, 2024, at noon, where the Principal Returning Officer will oversee the selection of the PNP’s mayoral nominee and the JLP’s deputy mayoral nominee in accordance with the law.
Confusion fueling arguments for Portmore parish status
At a JLP press conference, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the debate and confusion surrounding Portmore’s status have only added to the reasons why the city should be designated a parish.
“PNP, I’ve noticed, have tried to include the Portmore municipality [in the election results.] In other words, they have turned the municipality into a parish council. I’m very happy that they have recognized that Portmore is a separate entity,” he said.
The Prime Minister said Portmore is already counted in St. Catherine and therefore cannot be counted twice.
“What they want to do is to double-count. They want to count St. Catherine as a victory and Portmore as a victory. But if you take Portmore out of St. Catherine, the JLP would have won St. Catherine,” he said, adding that the PNP’s actions are “dishonorable.”
“They [PNP] have walked right into what we’ve been saying: Portmore should be a parish,” he said.
Holness said under any metric, JLP’s seven wins make them the winner of the local government elections.
Jamaica’s local government website lists the Municipality of Portmore under the St. Catherine Municipal Cooperation.
