Seaga sombre in face of defeat - Not yet ready to concede
By Balford Henry, News Editor

Mr. and Mrs. Seaga in an embrace at the JLP headquarters last night, after Mr. Seaga made a speech to the public. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer

JAMAICA LABOUR Party (JLP) Leader Edward Seaga said last night that he was not yet ready to concede defeat in yesterday's General Election, but admitted that the People's National Party has the majority of the seats so far.

Mr. Seaga spoke to a subdued group of JLP supporters who waited quietly until minutes to 10 o'clock at the party's Belmont Road headquarters to hear his version of last night's results. He said he would accept the ultimate decision of the people after recounts of the votes and the possible intervention of the Constitutional Authority and/or the courts as a sacred, democratic decision.

"As it turned out, it may transpire that we all lost. I am not ready to concede that yet, because there are a number of very marginal seats which are going to be subjected to recounts and to any other aspects of the process of the electoral system that may arise, that may require those seats to be rerun or the court to make an award," Mr. Seaga said.

"I therefore, at this point in time, am not prepared to say that, with the eventuality of these recounts, the Labour Party has lost the election. But, I am prepared to say that for the moment the People's National Party does have a majority of the seats and I commend them for the campaign that they ran which effectively has given them that majority."

Mr. Seaga paid tribute to the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EoJ) for a election which, he said, was generally free of any flaws, although he made it clear that he was still to obtain reports from his party's candidates. He said that their performance showed that the system can work.

He also paid tribute to the security forces and the media, the JLP's campaign team and the party's executives and secretariat as well as the many volunteers who were attracted to the campaign.

"The electorate of Jamaica has been asked a question and they have responded. We hold the right of the electorate to respond to those questions as a sacred right. We accept that decision, whatever it may be, and whatever the ultimate decision is, it is part of our democracy, which we accept."

The crowd drifted away shortly after Mr. Seaga's address that was shown on a wide screen in the yard of the headquarters to hundreds more who were gathered there.

The general mood was one of disappointment, but there was elation in terms of those who had won their seats including candidates from the Corporate Area who were at the press conference with Mr. Seaga and his wife, Carla.