Eton Williams, the National Democratic Movement's candi-date for North West Clarendon. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Eton Williams lost his deposit in 2007 - all $3,000 of it. Then, election day was September 3; this year, it will be September 4. The likelihood of a turnaround in fortunes is next to nil.

Pundits have called it a one-sided race - Williams of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) against Michael Stern of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the North West Clarendon by-election.

If it were horse racing, Williams may have been scratched on the advice of the vet. So dismal was his showing against the People's National Party's Horace Dalley and the Jamaica Labour Party's Laurence Broderick, he was not good enough to get as many votes as the number of persons who signed his nomination form to contest North Clarendon.

Under election laws, 10 voters must sign the nomination of potential candidates. The candidate must also receive five per cent of the votes to get back his deposit.

Trial run

When the ballots were counted after the September 3, 2007 general election, Williams only polled eight votes. He suffered the indignity of being the third worst of the 146 candidates to contest the general election.

"That was a trial run, this is the real thing," Williams, a 57-year-old engineer and preacher, told The Gleaner.

North West Clarendon was won by Stern over the PNP's Richard Azan by 933 votes in 2007. He was later disqualified because of his dual nationality.

"Stern is dealing with a heavyweight, he just does not know as yet," Williams told The Gleaner last Friday.

Eyes set on parliament

More than 21,000 persons are registered to vote in the by-election. Williams said he learnt valuable lessons from his 2007 outing and can't wait to start his march to Gordon House, the seat of government.

"I knew we were not going to make it then, but this time around nothing is going to stand in my way," Williams said.

"We will be taking our message to them and I know that we will win ... . I am going to Parliament with a small majority," Williams said.

The NDM candidate has said that he intends to expand agricultural production in the Clarendon hills. He also said he hopes to have a technology-centred university in North West Clarendon.

"My plans for the constituency are real and I want to debate Michael Stern about the way forward ... I will come out on top in the debate because I know that I am a more articulate, more knowledgeable, wiser, broader person," Williams said.

"He is not an engineer, he is not a thinker like me ... . I am a better thinker," Williams snapped.

While acknowledging that he would be hard-pressed to shake Stern, Williams has refused to bow to suggestions that he will be soundly beaten.

"We know the odds are against us but we are Clarendonians. We are not afraid of opposition. ... I am Baptist like Sam Sharpe and Paul Bogle. ... We made blood out of stone and water out of stone," he added.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com