Campbell derides JLP as opposition moves ahead in polls

 

The opposition People's National Party says it will not allow the ruling Jamaica Labour Party to belittle or question the character of its leader, Mark Golding, in the upcoming general election.

 

Speaking in relation to the latest poll results and Mr. Golding's improved favourability rating, General Secretary Dr. Dayton Campbell said Mr. Golding has gained traction among the electorate and the party will not allow the JLP to define him.

 

"I heard the chairman of the 'green house' say that they think that Mark Golding is an asset to the Labour Party and that they want him to stay in their as the leader of the [PNP] because they sure seh dem aguh win if him stay in there. And when he said it, it cut every bone inna mi body. If dem cut mi dem wouldn't see one drop of blood to how mi vex when him say it," Dr. Campbell recalled. 

 

"A few years later, and now that the polls are coming out, and the polls are showing them that Mark Golding is now ahead of dem...Prime Minister, what dem aguh seh now?" he scoffed. 

 

According to the latest Don Anderson poll, 36 per cent of 1,012 respondents said they favoured the PNP's Mark Golding, compared to 32.5 per cent who favoured Prime Minister Andrew Holness. 

 

The poll also found that the PNP now has a nine percentage point lead over the JLP in terms of voter intention, with 39.3 per cent of voters indicating they would vote for the opposition if an election were to be called now, as opposed to 30.2 per cent who pledged to support the JLP. 

 

Meanwhile, Dr. Campbell, who is the Opposition Spokesman for Agriculture, criticised portfolio minister, Floyd Green, arguing that the country's food import bill has skyrocketed over the last few years and this is having a negative effect on local farmers.

 

"We are currently in a situation where we have a Minister of Agriculture who is not doing anything to develop the agriculture sector in the country. What he is doing is ensuring that them import stuff into the country to the point where over an eight-year period in Jamaica, the country's importation bill has increased by 80 per cent, moving from US$800 million in 2016 to US$1.4 billion under this government. That is what they are doing when agriculture is really the way out to lift up some of our people out of poverty," he contended.       

 

Dr. Campbell was speaking at a PNP meeting on the weekend.