CAMPBELL, BROWN BURKE BOOST
Golding allies set to become general secretary, chairman
DR Dayton Campbell and Dr Angela Brown Burke are the front-runners to take over the positions of general secretary and chairman, respectively, of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) when its National Executive Committee (NEC) convenes on November 29, the Jamaica Observer has been reliably informed.
The positions will become vacant, officially, on that day, when incumbent General Secretary Julian Robinson and Chairman Fitz Jackson demit office.
Outspoken Dr Campbell, a former Member of Parliament (MP), who lost the St Ann South Western seat to Krystal Lee in the September 3, 2020 General Election, is a close associate of Mark Golding, the freshly elected president of the PNP and Opposition leader. He played a key role in the election of Golding over Lisa Hanna in the party’s presidential election of Saturday, November 7.
In that race, Golding beat Hanna to occupy the chair previously held by Dr Peter Phillips, who led the PNP to a 14-49 seat loss to the Jamaica Labour Party in the September 3 national poll. Dr Phillips later resigned as party president but remains Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Central, a seat he won first in 1996 and has never lost since.
Dr Brown Burke, the MP for St Andrew South Western, was Golding’s campaign manager during the contest.
Highly-placed PNP sources said yesterday that she was the preferred choice to succeed Jackson, as she, according to one, would “bring more political treasure to the table”, and was seen as a “more seasoned insider and fighter”.
Another Golding supporter and campaign official, Anthony Hylton, the MP for St Andrew Western, has expressed an interest in becoming chairman, but it is felt that Brown Burke would pack a “harder punch”, another insider said yesterday.
Should Brown Burke become chairman, she would hold the historic distinction of being the first woman to do so.
“All of these decisions will be made at the NEC, and usually at such meetings the membership allows the president to have the people that he would be most comfortable to work closely with,” one official said.
Those positions appear to be the most urgent for the embattled 82-year-old party, which has shown evidence of deep division over the last year.
Word also emerged yesterday that Peter Bunting, perhaps Golding’s closest ally, will be named a senator by the end of November.
Unconfirmed reports, too, are that Bunting will also be named Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate. He would replace Senator Donna Scott Mottley, who supported Lisa Hanna’s presidential bid, and who was reappointed by Dr Phillips to be one of the party’s eight senators shortly after the September 3 election.
The Senate vacancy arose weeks before the PNP’S election for the post of president when businessman Norman Horne, who had originally been announced by Dr Phillips as one of the eight, declined to take up the offer. Horne said that he took the decision not to take the oath as he wanted to allow the new leader of the Opposition a free hand to choose whomever he wished to serve.
After becoming president, Golding was appointed Opposition leader on Tuesday, November 10, hours before a sitting of the House of Representatives.
It is unclear if other senators appointed by Dr Phillips had offered to resign, as by law they are not compelled to. However, political analysts have always insisted that in the spirit of unity, and in a bid to allow the new Opposition leader a free hand, they should offer to quit.
Late Saturday, it emerged that Hanna had resigned on Friday as treasurer of the party, but that could not be confirmed by Golding, who could not be reached at the time this newspaper sought an answer.