JLP chairman declares party ready for upcoming general election
Key Points(5)
- Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Chairman Robert Montague says the party is fully prepared for the upcoming general election, declaring that its machinery is in place and energized for a third term in office.
- Montague made the announcement Sunday night at a gospel concert hosted by the JLP’s Area Council Two in Old Harbour, St.
- He responded directly to the question of why Jamaicans should return the party to power.
- "We have our 18 candidates in Area Council 2.
- The canvas ready, the workers ready, the voters ready.
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Chairman Robert Montague says the party is fully prepared for the upcoming general election, declaring that its machinery is in place and energized for a third term in office.
Montague made the announcement Sunday night at a gospel concert hosted by the JLP’s Area Council Two in Old Harbour, St. Catherine. He responded directly to the question of why Jamaicans should return the party to power.
"We have our 18 candidates in Area Council 2. The canvas ready, the workers ready, the voters ready. We are ready. Wi ready! Wi ready!" declared the party chairman to cheers from supporters.
"As we warm up and trottle up and fix up and get ready, I want you... as you go about and you get your good ideas, to forward the good ideas to the party so we can put them in the manifesto so we can present it to the people of Jamaica and we can say to the people of Jamaica, these are the plans that we have for you — plans to prosper you and plans to make you good, wealthy and strong. Because the Jamaica Labour Party is on a mission to move Jamaica from poverty to prosperity, and we have been doing a good job," Montague added.
The chairman's remarks follow recent comments by JLP General Secretary Dr. Horace Chang, who also signaled that the election is approaching.
"I don’t know the date or the time but I know it is near," Chang said last week.
With Parliament now on its summer break, lawmakers from both major parties are expected to ramp up their campaign efforts in anticipation of a general election widely expected by September. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, as head of government, holds the constitutional authority to set the election date.
Under the Jamaican Constitution, Parliament must be dissolved no later than five years after its first sitting following the previous election. That timeline requires dissolution by September 14, 2025, with an election held within three months after that. However, elections are typically called before the full five-year term ends. The last general election took place on September 3, 2020, and the new Parliament convened on September 15.
In a court ruling last month, Supreme Court Justice Lorna Shelly-Williams confirmed that the current Parliament “must be dissolved on or before the 14 September 2025.”
In recent weeks, political momentum has been building. Both the JLP and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have ramped up public events, rolled out policy proposals, and increased grassroots mobilization. The upcoming election is expected to be closely watched, as the JLP seeks a third consecutive term and the PNP attempts to regain power amid national concerns over economic growth, crime, and governance.
In the 2020 election, the JLP secured 49 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, while the PNP won 14.
