THE Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has regained control of the Cassia Park Division of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) after its candidate Beverley Prince defeated the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) Sheryn Bromfield by more than 400 votes in yesterday’s by-election.
Prince — who previously served as councillor for the division for three consecutive terms between 1998 and 2012 before leaving to run unsuccessfully in the Hagley Park Division in the 2012 local government polls — secured 1,586 votes to Bromfield’s 1,176 when counting of the 41 boxes ended at 6:30 pm yesterday.This has increased the number of JLP councillors in the KSAC to 15 compared to the PNP’s 25. It has also shifted power from the PNP in the division, which was won in 2012 by Bromfield’s mother, Cynthia Burrell, who died earlier this year, thus creating the vacancy.Bromfield was seeking to capitalise on the “goodwill” her late mother was said to have left in the division.But yesterday’s margin of victory, according to Opposition Leader Andrew Holness, is indicative of the message that voters want to send to the PNP Government.He said Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s recent comment that a vote in the election would be a vote for her and Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips — in whose East Central constituency the division falls — was because the PNP was confident of the party’s victory.“This area is a microcosm of Jamaica on a whole and the people have sent a powerful message that they are not endorsing the prime minister and the finance minister,” Holness said.This, despite the Electoral Office of Jamaica reporting that only about 26 per cent of the 10,575 eligible voters actually cast their ballots.But Holness said that the turnout was better than last year and topped what he had expected.Meanwhile, an elated Prince said that she never doubted the win given the work she had put in the division even when she stepped aside from representing the area.“This means that the people of Cassia Park have placed wholehearted trust in me,” she said.Babsy Grange, chairperson of the JLP’s Public Relations Committee, said that Prince’s victory has helped to erase the myth that the PNP is a better mobilisor of supporters on the ground.“We had no resources to use and they had it all, yet we won; so the PNP is not a better organiser; that is a myth and we have shattered that today,” she said.Grange, too, believes that this win is a clear signal that people are fedup with the PNP Government.Up to two hours before Prince was declared the winner, supporters of both parties were equally optimistic of a victory.So sure was the PNP of the win that the orange-clad party supporters, who converged outside the Tarrant Baptist Church on Molynes Road to await the results, outnumbered their green-clad counterparts.Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Central Denise Daley had earlier told the Jamaica Observer that the PNP would be the party celebrating at the end of the day.“Our candidate is very young and energetic and has a vision for the division, while the opponent has already had her chance and didn’t do anything with it,” she said.Throughout the day, high-ranking officials from both parties were out in their numbers to lend support to the respective candidates and even to double as party workers at polling stations.For the most part, voting was slow and at times there were far more outdoor agents than voters on the grounds.The festivity associated with elections was also absent at some clusters where outdoor agents adorned in their party colours sat idly by awaiting the voters who trickled in. While orange was the dominant colour at the majority of the polling stations, some PNP party workers admitted that many of those present did not have a vote in the division, but were there to lend support.“We have support from all over Jamaica,” said councillor of the Bull Bay Division Patricia Morgan, who was at the Dunrobin Primary School that housed several polling stations.Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, deputy general secretary of the JLP, said that the number of JLP supporters would appear smaller than that of the PNP as those present were from the division.“All the people you see here are from the constituency and so we didn’t have to take anybody from outside; so don’t watch the numbers because what counts are the votes,” he said.Andre Stephens, who contested the local government election in the Waterford Division for the JLP last year, had earlier predicted that Prince would be a sure winner because of the work she had done in the area.“Whilst it is going to be a stiff election, Prince will be returned home like the Prodigal Son,” he said, adding that the spirit of JLP founder Sir Alexander Bustamante was with the day’s proceedings.For his part, JLP Chairman Robert Montague said that Prince would win as she was not only keen on addressing a number of local government issues, but also lived among the people in the division.See more photos in our Online Photo Gallery:Opposition and Jamaica Labour Party leader Andrew Holness and Beverley Prince share an embrace after she was declared winner in yesterday’s local government by-election in the Cassia Park Division of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation. (PHOTO: JOSEPH WELLINGTON)A PNP supporter hangs out with her JLP friend.Supporters of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party react after learning that the party had won yesterday’s by-election. (PHOTOS: JOSEPH WELLINGTON)People’s National Party supporters look on in disappointment after the result of the by-election was announced.Beverley Prince (centre) surrouned by elated supporters, yesterday.View the original article here
VIDEO: Opposition takes Cassia Park Division by-election
