Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
Supporters of Anthony Hylton (wearing cap), a candidate who is vying to represent the People's National Party (PNP) as Member of Parliament for the Western St. Andrew constituency, are elated on seeing him outside after yesterday's PNP's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre yesterday. Mr. Hylton will go up against Collin Campbell for the Western St. Andrew seat. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE BATTLE among People's National Party (PNP) candidates to represent the West St. Andrew constituency is heating up amid renewed concerns from O.T. Williams, incumbent Member of Parliament for the constituency.
Mr. Williams, who is not seeking re-election, says he still has serious concerns about how Anthony Hylton, the former Member of Parliament for St. Thomas Western, was selected as constituency chairman last December.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Mr. Williams said he also has concerns regarding what he described as a splintering of a previously stable support base in the constituency and about increasing tension between groups in the constituency, which he said resulted from the events of last December.
"They still need to put in place a mechanism for the smooth transfer of leadership in West St. Andrew," said Mr. Williams. He said the PNP constitution had been breached during the election.
ISSUES STILL ON THE TABLE
The Gleaner was unable to reach Anthony Hylton. But general secretary of the PNP, Senator Burchell Whiteman, while declining to discuss details on what he said were internal party matters, said the issue of leadership in the constituency "is still being dealt with."
Mr. Whiteman said the PNP executive has a plan to deal with the issue and has been working with various parties.
At yesterday's PNP National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston, Mr. Whiteman said among the issues discussed were matters affecting the selection of candidates for constituencies and divisions.
Reports are that just outside yesterday's meeting, supporters of Mr. Hylton jeered his rival Colin Campbell, who lost his Eastern St. Andrew seat in the 2002 General Election. The supporters said they did not want Mr. Campbell in the constituency. But Senator Whiteman played this down.
"I am not aware of any conflict between any two persons whom I have heard touted. I am aware that persons who seem to come from Western St. Andrew were quite vociferous in their choice of candidates ... Those persons were outside the conference centre. It had no bearing on the meeting and the no impact on the meeting," Senator Whiteman said.
REQUEST FOR AUDIT
The Gleaner was also told that the PNP's secretariat is currently auditing various constituted groups in some sections of the Western St. Andrew, an exercise which should be completed in one month. The request for an audit was originally submitted by Linton Walters, who some saw as Mr. Hylton's rival for the post, based on concerns about an "explosion" of groups in several divisions in the constituency, The Gleaner was told.
Senator Whiteman refused to state whether this was being done, classifying it as an internal matter.
He, however, said that other subjects discussed at the NEC meeting included strategies for the creation of more violence-free communities and to distance the party from association with criminals, "who may want to claim kinship with us."
