Hard work paid off - St Bess Comrades hail ‘excellent campaign’

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large, South /Central Bureau

Thursday, January 12, 2012

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — THEY accept that disaffection with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government significantly assisted the swing towards the People’s National Party (PNP) in the December 29 parliamentary polls.

But as they do their post-election analyses, triumphant PNP candidates and strategists in St Elizabeth are also crediting careful planning, good organisation and a high level of “dedicated volunteerism” among Comrades for their success in this south western parish.

“I think our strategy of Operation Ground Control worked very well,” said the highly popular PNP elder KD Knight, who “coordinated” the St Elizabeth campaign during the weeks leading up to the elections. “That strategy involved our candidates being in their constituencies and working hard, the workers controlling the ground and the message of the PNP being circulated … it was an excellent campaign,” said Knight, who is a St Elizabeth native.

With just one of four St Elizabeth seats in the ‘orange column’ before December 29, the PNP took the parish 3-1 with only the veteran JLP politician JC Hutchinson standing firm in North West.

Arguably the most stunning result of the General Election came in South West St Elizabeth where the high-profile Cabinet Minister Christopher Tufton was beaten by 13 votes on recount. Tufton fell to the previously little known Hugh Buchanan — the 30 yearold-son of the late PNP giant and Cabinet Minister Danny Buchanan. In the process, Tufton lost an over 1,800 vote advantage he had gained over the PNP in the 2007 election when he defeated Stanley Redwood.

The PNP comfortably took South East St Elizabeth which polls had suggested would have remained with the JLP’s Frank Witter. The PNP’s Richard Parchment won the seat by 980 votes reversing a margin of 456 for Witter in 2007.

As was expected, the PNP retained the North East St Elizabeth seat by a large and increased majority despite internal quarrels and divisions that have afflicted the party’s constituency organisation over the past two to three years. Raymond Pryce, who had taken up the PNP’s standard just weeks before the election following the dropping of Basil Waite, defeated the JLP’s Corris Samuels by 4,068 votes, doubling the margin earned by Kern Spencer in 2007.

In NW St Elizabeth, Hutchinson held off the challenge of the PNP’s Richard Rowe, winning by 866 votes.

Wensworth Skeffery, Chairman of the PNP’s Region Five, which incorporates St Elizabeth and Manchester, said an unrelenting enumeration exercise that begun in the “dull period” after the 2007 elections paid rich dividends in both parishes.

The enumeration process was particularly focused in SE St Elizabeth, said Skeffery. “We targeted PNP young people and we got them on the list, the next step was to get them to vote,” he said.

He hailed Comrades for their high level of dedication. Many volunteered their time, with no chance of compensation, to win over supporters and keep them motivated, he said.

“No praise can be too high for the workers, cluster managers, runners, drivers … they worked beyond the call of duty,” said Skeffery. He claimed the PNP cry of ‘People Power’ and ‘Power to the People’ gained great resonance. “They really bought into it,” he said.

Both Parchment and Buchanan emphasised the importance of “unity” in constituency organisations that were previously fractious.

Buchanan, described by Knight as “a tremendous candidate”, recalled that just weeks before the election, some Comrades in SW St Elizabeth were calling for him to step aside. However, he said, as the elections approached all groups came together “in the common cause”.

He had special praise for the councillor of the Black River Division Mordant Mitchell. “Comrade Mitchell worked very, very hard to get me elected and I must commend him,” said Buchanan.

In the end, Buchanan said the longstanding suggestion of disunity may have helped his cause because “The JLP and Tufton underestimated us and you could say we came in under the radar …”

Having watched his father win the SW St Elizabeth seat by very thin margins over many years, Buchanan says he is under no illusions.

‘The mistake the JLP made in 2007 was to misread the large majority they gained then,” he said. “What they should have realised is that a lot of (disgruntled) PNP voted for them, then and a lot of PNP didn’t vote. But that trend was changed this time around ….

“No matter what, I know that this is a marginal constituency, and in five years’ time it is still going to be marginal with both parties having a large, almost equal voter base. So I know I have to remain on the ground in the constituency, serving the needs of all constituents, organising, building the PNP groups and sustaining the unity we now have,” said Buchanan.

Parchment recalled that in 2007 the PNP were bitterly divided between supporters of the then incumbent Len Blake and the party executive’s chosen candidate Norman Horne in SE St Elizabeth. Parchment said he spent time working to heal the wounds. His work reaped rewards with both Blake and Horne in his corner in the buildup to Election Day. “That unity aspect can’t be ignored,” said Parchment.

Arguing that voters in the southern half of St Elizabeth are “passionate about their politics” and “fiercely loyal to their parties,” Parchment said his base strategy was not to win over JLP supporters but to enumerate and motivate PNP supporters.

He says his task now will be to provide the kind of representation that will “bear scrutiny” and at the same time build his political organisation so that a victory margin of more than 2,000 votes becomes achievable.

Buchanan, Parchment and Skeffery all hailed Knight — dubbed the ‘Star Boy’ — for his efforts in the last few weeks of the campaign. “He made a great difference,” said Skeffery.

While voicing satisfaction “with the work of the team in the parish,” Knight said the task now for PNP MPs is “do the right thing and remain close to their constituents… they are now members of Parliament for their entire constituency and they will be assessed on the strength of their performance …”

NW St Elizabeth Hutchinson (JLP) 5,689, Rowe (PNP) 4,823

NE St Elizabeth Pryce (PNP) 9,566, Samuels (JLP) 5,498

SW St Elizabeth Buchanan (PNP) 9,453, Tufton (JLP) 9,440

SE St Elizabeth Parchment (PNP) 9,907, Witter (JLP) 8,927

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Hard work paid off - St Bess Comrades hail ‘excellent campaign’