Jamaica Labour Party takes lead - Portia’s People’s National Party drops two points - Poor hurricane relief hurts ruling party
With the general election just four days away, the Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has opened up a four percentage point lead in popular support over the Portia Simpson Miller-led People’s National Party (PNP), which appears to have suffered a political fallout in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean.

Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) reports 72 per cent turnout on Tuesday
Of the 33,288 persons enumerated to vote on Tuesday when membersof the security forces and election day workers cast their ballots, 24,030 exercised their franchise. Professor Errol Miller, chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), noted that this represented a 72 per cent voter turnout. A few glitches on election day prevented some persons from casting their ballots.Meanwhile, despite damage to 246 polling stations by Hurricane Dean, officials at the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) and the ECJ said yesterday that voting in next Monday’s general election will not be affected.

JAMAICA VOTES - Country can afford to abolish health fees
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller recently suggested that the Opposition Leader follow the advice of popular deejay Mr. Vegas and ‘tek weh’ himself. She was referring to what has been the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) habit of making big promises more concerned with impressing voters than budgeters. After education, health has become the second issue area which, in this election season, has had a great philosophical question attached to it: ‘To fee, or not to fee?’ The People’s National Party (PNP) sings a mantra of ‘Nothing is free. Everything must cost us something’, while the Jamaica Labour party (JLP) continues to say elliptically, ‘We can find the money’.

Norman Horne: I have the support and the numbers
Norman Horne, who is representing the PNP in South East St. Elizabeth, changed his political coat when he resigned as a member of the PNP prior to the 2002 general elections and switched allegiance to the JLP in a bid to enter Parliament on the party’s ticket. He, however, lost the contest to the PNP’s John Junor in Central Manchester, receiving 7,209 votes to Mr. Junor’s 8,331.

Rosemarie Shaw: Trying to take back seat for PNP
Forty-eight-year-old Rosemarie Shaw is the PNP’s candidate for West St. Thomas. Ms. Shaw was a JLP Councillor in the 1990s and served as Mayor of Morant Bay.

Karl Samuda: Will always win his seat
The JLP’s Karl Samuda is the chief turncoat who switched from the JLP in 1990 after being expelled in the wake of the so-called ‘Gang-of-Five’ rebellion against Mr. Seaga’s reportedly autocratic leadership style.

Abe Dabdoub: House-to-house walk signals a win
Abe Dabdoub is no stranger to the political landscape. He has been active in politics since the 1970s. He was president of the JLP youth arm, Young Jamaica, from 1973 to 1975. He entered representational politics when he was elected Councillor for the Vineyard Town Division of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), in the Local Government Elections of 1981. He was also a JLP Senator from 1980 to 1983.

Ian Hayles: I am 100% confident I will win
Thirty-five-year-old Ian Hayles is the PNP candidate for the Hanover Western seat. The one-time president of the JLP affiliate group, Generation 2000 (G2K), was also a JLP caretaker for North Trelawny. He, however, left the JLP in a huff when he also resigned from the party in tow with Horne.

Few glitches - Walker reports voting went smoothly - Some issue with missing names
Election officials are hailing yesterday’s poll for election day workers and members of the security forces as a success, despite reports that some police personnel and election day staff could not exercise their franchise, as their names were not on the August 28 voters’ list.

People’s National Party (PNP) to take allegiance to court
The People’s National Party (PNP) has reiterated that it is taking steps to bring court action against Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates it claims are not qualified to contest the general elections Monday.

‘Vote for party that has done the most’
Immediate past president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Hopeton Henry, on Monday, urged teachers to vote for the party that has made the most contribution to education.

Missing names anger some police
At least one policeman did not exercise his right to vote yesterday as his name was on a voters’ list that was at the other end of the island.

Pay to upgrade teachers - Ruel Reid
Claiming that the applications of several teachers who initially applied to the $600 million revolving loan fund were denied because they did not meet the criteria, Ruel Reid, former president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), says the next government should fund the upgrading of the island’s teachers.

JLP’s Witter to blow Horne off course in South East St Elizabeth
Although the momentum favours the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), a tight race is expected next week for the South East St. Elizabeth constituency.

‘We need more jobs for the young people’
While many young people seem unconcerned about the possible fate of the JLP’s Franklyn Witter and the PNP’s Norman Horne, there was no reluctance when it comes to outlining the needs of the constituency.

‘Youth must vote’
YOUNG Jamaicans are being encouraged by their peers in politics to exercise their franchise on election day, September 3.

Manifestos on education lack substance - Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA)
The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) yesterday likened the manifestos of the main political parties on education, to cheese trix, claiming that they lacked substance. At the same time, the JTA has come out strongly against a proposal by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to introduce performance-based pay for the island’s teachers.

Security forces, election workers vote today
Members of the security forces and election day workers go to the polls today to cast their ballots in the country’s 15th general election since Adult Suffrage in 1944.

Douglas in tough fight to retain seat
OLD FOX Harry Douglas, who had announced that he would not be seeking re-election after four terms as Member of Parliament for South East St. Mary, is facing an unceremonial exit from politics, according to a recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll.

Residents say South East St Mary is heading in wrong direction
IF HARRY Douglas is depending on the ‘Portia factor’ to take him to victory in South East St. Mary next week, he may want to reconsider.

Portia still ahead in personality contest
WHILE THE Jamaica Labour Party has chopped away at the People’s National Party (PNP) lead in popular support, with both organisations now neck and neck, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is still well ahead of her rival Bruce Golding in personal ratings.

VOX POP
The Gleaner took to the streets of the Corporate Area yesterday to get the opinions of a few Jamaicans on the race.

Needed: More women, youths in Senate
A YOUNG breed of politicians, and a standard bearer for women in Jamaican politics, believe that laws should be effected to allow for a certain proportion of the Senate to be made up of women and youths.

DEAD HEAT! PNP, JLP locked in a tussle a week away from election day
As Hurricane Dean approached the island a week ago, the electorate was at a crossroad about which party should form the next government.

Political campaigning to resume - ECJ commends Cabinet for early election date
Jamaicans should brace themselves this week for an increase in election campaigning after a lull due to the passage of Hurricane Dean.

Noteworthy proposals on justice reform
Judging by the sheer number of placard-bearing women and men who have made their way on to the evening news demanding ‘JUSTICE!’, reminding authorities of their essential rights, and feeling they have been disenfranchised from these, the topic would have been an impossible one to omit from any serious manifesto. Both parties try to convince us that they are indeed serious about citizens’ individual rights. Complete with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr., the manifestos make earnest, if not accurate, pronouncements about justice being a fundamental pillar of any thriving democracy.

‘ALL SYSTEMS GO’ - September 3 polls announced, Electoral Office ready
Despite the fury of Hurricane Dean, which left sections of the country devastated, Director of Elections, Danville Walker, says it’s all systems go for a September 3 general election.

State of emergency lifted
The controversial and much-debated state of public emergency, announced by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in the wake of Hurricane Dean, is now a thing of the past.

Debate may be decider - Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) wins a major popularity boost
The scientific verdict is out. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has gained more political bounce than the People’s National Party (PNP) from the recently held debate between the respective party leaders - Bruce Golding and Portia Simpson Miller.

Jamaica votes - Parties agree more on Jamaica’s education
In a country where seven out of every 10 Jamaicans fail to achieve five or more passes at CXC, the education debate is always a lively one in election year. In this season, tongues have been wagging heatedly around the issue of whether or not high school students should pay fees.

People’s National Party (PNP) probes allegiance - Seeks irrefutable evidence to disqualify Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates
Chairman of the People’s National Party (PNP), Robert Pickersgill, says his party is still conducting investigations to unearth “conclusive evidence” of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates who have allegedly sworn allegiance to a foreign power, a move that would disqualify them from becoming members of the House of Representatives.

‘There is only an issue if the person is elected’
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW and former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator, Frank Phipps, said yesterday that no action can be taken against any candidate in the upcoming general election who holds dual citizenship, unless they are elected to Parliament.

Election postponed
Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall is expected today to announce a new date for the holding of the general election, following the unanimous recommendation by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) yesterday, to postpone the August 27 poll.

Prime Minister of Jamaica defends emergency call
The State of public emergency declared by Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall on the advice of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller might be shortlived if electricity is restored before the end of the week.

EDITORIAL - Lift the State of Emergency now
We must express serious concern with the undue haste with which the Government has declared a period of public emergency. The decision to advise the Governor-General to make such a proclamation was made without consultation with the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). We believe that a step of such enormous magnitude in the midst of a fiercely contested general election required some consultation. The Prime Minister’s justification for taking this step is presented after the fact and is completely unconvincing.

POLITICAL AD WATCH - Statistics show JLP gaining on PNP
With just a week of campaigning left (Hurricane Dean permitting) before the August 27 general election, the latest Bill Johnson polls, commissioned by The Gleaner, show the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has gained some four points from among voters who were undecided just four weeks ago.

‘Dean’ could postpone voting of security forces
If damage associated with dangerous category Four Hurricane Dean is catastrophic, the security forces may not vote on Tuesday as planned.

No clear choices - Party candidates in dead heat, electors look to leaders
While party leaders, Portia Simpson Miller and Bruce Golding, continue to show marked differences in personal standings, electors at the constituency level are hard-pressed to identify which candidates of the People’s National Party or the Jamaica Labour Party would perform better as Members of Parliament (MP).

Bunting remains confident
PETER BUNTING, the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for Central Manchester, has dismissed assertions that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will win the seat in the upcoming general election.