Independents hope to make a difference

WITH THE June 19 Local Government elections just four days away, former People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) party members, now turned independent candidates, reflect on their decisions to run as independents, and look ahead at some of the challenges they face going into Thursday's election.

According to Wendell Stewart, Independent candidate and former PNP Member of Parlianent for North Trelawny, "the people have asked me not to go into retirement, but to come back and fill the position." This was after he had been ousted by the party as the constituency candidate and dumped for the local polls.

Mr. Stewart sees his independence as a chance to better address some of the issues that are affecting his division in a more open way.

"I will be able to address the problems affecting this divison more freely," he said, instead of having certain agendas filtered down to him. While in his former party, Mr. Stewart said, "we had to go along to get along."

According to him, his campaign will speak directly to those issues and problems that affect Falmouth itself, like sewage and drainage, land distribution and the state of hospitals and police stations. He also said that persons are of the impression that independent candidates will not be able to effectively cater to their needs and that their votes will be wasted, especially if candidates are not affiliated to one of the two dominant political
parties.

"This is the notion being put forward by the two dominant political parties," Mr. Stewart told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview on Wednesday.

But he counters, "the Jamaican Constitution caters to independent candidates, and therefore they do not have to be alligned to a political party."

Despite admitting to only having limited resources, Mr. Stewart contends that any candidate who wins, whether a member of a dominant political party or an independent candidate, will be entitled to whatever resources are available in the Parish Council to run the division. Under the constitution, he said, "Independents are entitled to all available resources once they win."

Another independent candidate, Knox Johnson, who is a former member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), says "supporters in the Hampton Green Divisi-on feel strongly about me running as an independent candidate," and maintains that if the people were not in favour of him then he would stand down. Mr. Johnson had been replaced earlier this year at a JLP selection conference, where he said he had 40 delegates who did not get the chance to vote.

According to Mr. Johnson, he is now on a mission to save Spanish Town, "the forgotten city", as Members of Parliament have not been investing money into it.

Mr. Johnson said he had previously had the help of the Parish Council who gave him support in doing drains, and the resurfacing and rehabilitation of roads. Right now, he said, "my resources will come from well-thinking people, friends and family members."

Independent candidate Howard Charvis, who is also a former member of the JLP, says he was forced to run as an independent candidate because of some personal differences between himself and the Member of Parliament for that constituency.

"Personally, I feel that injustice was meted out to me by my former party," he told The Sunday Gleaner in a telephone interview on Thursday. Mr. Charvis, who describes himself as an "independent JLP candidate", said he was encouraged to contest the seat as an independent, by persons who had voted him in as JLP Councillor in the last elections and other administrative persons with whom he had worked. Mr. Charvis says that he has the support of the people within his division, and that is why he is running.

He remains confident of his chances, and remains hopeful that all the necessary resources needed will come straight from the Parish Council, as he had been serving the St. Catherine constituency well as JLP councillor for some time now.

A total of 21 independent candidates will be vying for a position in this year's Local Government Elections, down from 27 independents who contested in 1998.

Among the independents contending in this year's elections are former PNP Member of Parliament for North Trelawny, Wendell Stewart, and Robert Stewart of the Port Maria division.

Six former JLP councillors also entered the race as independents, and they are; Howard Charvis, Homestead diviison; Knox Johnson, Hampton Green division; Lloyd Ebanks, Linstead division in St. Catherine; Leroy Gray, Maroon Town division in St. James; Lilieth Richards, Gibraltar division; and Sherman Harris, Brown's Town division in St. Ann.