The Member of Parliament for Clarendon Central Mike Henry, has declared his intention to be a candidate in the next general election.
Henry, who has been serving as a MP since 1980, believes the constituents are the ones who will decide whether he does otherwise.
His declaration is in the context of the RJRGLEANER poll which found that a majority of Jamaicans do not think politicians should remain in parliament beyond age 70.
Ninety-one per cent agreed that there should be a retirement age for politicians, six per cent said 'no' and three per cent were not sure.
Henry on Thursday confirmed his intention to remain in representational politics.
“The next election - I plan to run again. As we speak, the politics I know, changes hourly. The people elected me to serve the term, and as the issue relates, I’m offering myself to the people who are still asking me to stay.”
“If the people who think I’m old and not thinking and not performing - then I can go - I can also go from running again and if the people think so, they can vote me out . Unless you have term limits, fixed election dates and a retirement age that is fixed in the constitution, then it is pure speculation from there on ….”
But Damion Gordon, Assistant Lecturer in Public Policy in the Department of Government at the UWI Mona, is of the opposite view.
He believes the age of retirement for politicians should be similar to the one in the public sector.