At least two young party members who stood on the platform with Simpson Miller have tiptoed out of her camp.

PEOPLE'S NATIONAL Party (PNP) insiders have said the impending decision not to contest any more by-elections is geared towards saving the political career of party president Portia Simpson Miller.

The Opposition PNP and the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) are at the bargaining table hammering out an agreement for no contest in seats where MPs are in breach of the Constitution and do not qualify to sit in the House.

The agreement, which would mean that the slew of by-elections come to an end, is said by some members in the leadership of the PNP to be a desperate attempt to save Simpson Miller's career.

cannot afford to lose

"Everything is against her now and the party cannot afford for her to lose anymore of these elections," one senior PNP insider told The Sunday Gleaner.

However, party Chairman Bobby Pickersgill sought to dispel any notion of dissent in the ranks of the PNP regarding the presidency of Simpson Miller when he spoke with The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

"I don't know where that came from. Anyone who suggests that has not done any proper analysis.

"The contests in the last two by-elections were far from fair, given that the JLP had two sitting MPs and enjoyed total control. That aside, the leadership of the party accepts full responsibility for these losses," he said.

But, PNP sources, some of whom supported Simpson Miller in the most recent presidential election, said the party was faced with certain defeat in North West Clarendon where Richard Azan was hoping to contest the seat against Michael Stern.

It is expected that the court will boot Stern as MP later next month because at the time of his nomination he had pledge allegiance to a foreign power. Azan was preparing the ground for a battle. However, last week he indicated that he was unlikely to contest the election, charging that Stern had turned the pending contest into a 'buy-election'.

against the ropes

But a senior PNP official has admitted that the Azan was against the ropes.

"That would have been an uphill task," the official said.

The Sunday Gleaner under-stands that Simpson Miller's trusted lieutenant, D.K. Duncan, convinced her that the party would lose yet another by-election if it insisted on challenging Stern.

The PNP has suffered heavy defeats in by-elections held in West Portland and North East St Catherine. However, many party organisers, including Azan felt that North West St Catherine was their's for the taking.

However, following Duncan's stay in Clarendon, he is believed to have advised Simpson Miller of the folly of challenging for the seat.

"The more you lose, the worse it is for your record and the party leader knows that," one Opposition MP commented.

But despite the possibility of by-elections almost out of the way, it is said that Simpson Miller is still not out of the woods.

cracks

Party insiders have said that Simpson Miller's walls have begun to show various cracks as some of those who supported her in the presidential election no longer favour her to lead the party.

"The JLP has Portia's ticket and the private sector won't support her," one former Portia platform campaigner told The Sunday Gleaner.

At least two young party members who stood on the platform with Simpson Miller in September 2007, affirming her as the party's best choice as president, have tiptoed out of her camp.

"Nothing like that has come to us. The party has in place so many avenues for members to air their views and no expressions of dissent has come to us," Pickersgill told The Sunday Gleaner.

Several attempts to reach party president, Simpson Miller, have been unsuccessful, via telephone calls and through Raymond Pryce, head of the party's youth arm, the Patriots.