I will vote JLP ’til I dead, says 72-y-o
MORANT BAY, St Thomas: ISOLYN THOMPSON, a 72-year-old woman resident of St Thomas, has been voting for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since she was 20 years old.
She was among scores of supporters who yesterday waved flags and knocked pot covers as they gathered in their numbers and colours a little distance from the Electoral Office of Jamaica’s Morant Bay office in St Thomas, where Delano Seiveright was to be nominated on the JLP ticket.
“JLP give me place to live and something for my children [so] I could send them and my grandchildren to school!” she declared.
Thompson recalled her youthful days when her mother advised her of Jamaican politics.
“She tell me seh when mi grow big, don’t tek the head (the People’s National Party’s symbol), tek the bell (the JLP’s symbol) because Bustamante give her something, and from that time she has been voting, so I grow up with it. That was long before I understand anything about politics, and now I am big and get to see how things are, I can say that I find virtue in the bell,” she said.
SURE OF ONE THING
And though Thompson’s voice was not as strong and audible as it used to be and her memory not so reliable, she said she is sure of one thing and did not hesitate to let it be known: “PNP is not for poor people. We can’t buy PNP house!”
The woman, who was born in Portland, but now lives in Lyssons, St Thomas, told The Gleaner that regardless of where she lives, her ‘X’ will always be placed beside the bell.
According to her: “I will vote JLP ’til I dead! At least I will know my pickney dem can go school freely and get work after and can get good wages, too.”
The mother of four said all her children have also been voting for the Labour Party.
“Grow up your children in the right way! Prosperity we preach!” she said as she marched off to join the throng of supporters who were cheering on Seiveright, their hope for Eastern St Thomas.