( L - R ) D.K. Duncan, Gray

THE PENDULUM swayed to and fro for more than six weeks; first to Dr. D.K. Duncan, then to Barrington Gray and now the educated guess suggests it is heading back to Dr. Duncan.

All this time, Eastern Hanover has been without a Member of Parliament (MP), a situation which one resident described as 'unhealthy'.

A Supreme Court ruling on Friday that ballots which do not have the necessary marks required by law not be counted seem to have all but left Duncan as the MP in waiting for Eastern Hanover.

Waiting anxiously

While the decision had not yet been handed down when The Gleaner visited the constituency on Wednesday, some residents were waiting anxiously for the change.

"D.K. must get di seat. Dem man deh a bright man. Dem man deh can represent wi a Parliament, a him wi want," one man told The Gleaner.

However, until the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) declares who will be the new MP, residents of Eastern Hanover will have to wait for their elected representative to emerge.

So much has happened since the September 3 general election. Some residents have difficulty keeping pace with the latest development in the Duncan/Gray battle for Eastern Hanover.

Preliminary counts had Duncan winning the seat by 57 votes. On election night, he was said to have polled 6,053 votes to Barrington Gray's 5,996.

Official count

However, in the official count, Gray prevailed by the narrowest of margins in these elections - nine votes. The official count had him polling 6,094 votes to Duncan's 6,086.

Gray who campaigned under theme 'Working for Eastern Hanover', gained 168 more votes than he did in 2002.

But when the PNP raced to the courts for a magisterial recount, lead attorney Abe Dabdoub argued that some ballots, which did not have the markings required by law, should not be counted.

A Hanover Resident Magistrate agreed and despite motions made by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) lawyers, the Supreme Court said that the judge should not count the ballots that are without the legal markings.

Persons close to the count say that the ruling means that Duncan will win the seat by six votes, making Gray the only JLP incumbent to lose.

With Gray's expected departure, Duncan now has the task of addressing the chronic problems of too few schools and a lack of water supply in several communities, which Gray himself had highlighted as problems affecting Eastern Hanover.

- Darriane Luton