PNP's Dawes says love and unity led to win in South East St. Catherine

 

Member of Parliament elected Dr. Alfred Dawes said, the battle to return the St. Catherine South Eastern seat to the wind column of the People's National Party (PNP) was a tough, but attributed the party's victory Wednesday night to unity and love. 

 

Dr. Dawes defeated former member of Parliament Robert Miller - who was seeking a second term on the Jamaica Labour Party's ticket - by a margin of 567 votes. He secured 7,754 votes to the Mr. Miller's 7,187.  

 

Kaycian Radcliffe of the Jamaica Progressive Party received 64 votes. 

 

In 2023, several PNP supporters were upset at the decision by the party to install Dr. Dawes as caretaker, rather than have a runoff between him and Councillor for the Edgewater Division, Alric Campbell. 

 

On Wednesday, supporters put aside their differences and came out as soon as the polls opened.

 

"Dr. Dawes, you done know, a him a best right now fi dis seat. So you done know, wi love wi Alric, yes, but...that couldn't stop mi from vote fi PNP neither," said one PNP supporter. 

 

Speaking on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines on Thursday, Dr. Dawes reflected on some of the challenges and how he was able to overcome them with forgiveness. He said he had to lead by example.

 

"Because in the beginning, fighting fire with fire just led to greater divisions because somebody hurt you and hurt people, hurt people. You retaliate, that led to further provocations and resentments. And we had to overcome that by somebody says something bad or something bad, you literally had to bite a lip or turn the other cheek. And in the end, that is what led to the unity, you know, our personal growth as a constituency. And that's the page that we all are on right now. And we are united and that's the only thing that saved us from, you know, call it love versus money - the love won out in the end." 

 

The first-time MP said he will continue his advocacy for healthcare in Gordon House. 

 

Dr. Dawes acknowledged that as an opposition MP, his tenure will not be easy. 

 

"There are a lot of issues, some low-hanging fruit in the constituency that need to be addressed immediately. And we're going to get to hit the ground running to the get South East, make it a model constituency in terms of roads and infrastructure. It's going to be a little bit more difficult because we're not in government, but whatever we can. And I did promise the citizens that I would be a very consultative MP. I'm not going to have a meeting and tell you how the Constituency Development Fund was spent. I'm going to have meetings for all of us to decide how the Constituency Development Fund will be spent," he declared.