'We are comfortable', JLP insists despite trailing slightly in polls

 

Campaign Chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party Dr. Christopher Tufton says the ruling JLP will be victorious in the September 3 general election despite the public opinion polls which showed the People's National Party slightly ahead.

 

The latest RJRGLEANER-commissioned Don Anderson poll shows that the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party are in a statistical dead heat.

 

According to the poll, 34.7 per cent of respondents say they would vote for the PNP, while marginally trailing behind is the governing JLP at 33.9 per cent.

 

But speaking Thursday at a press conference, Dr. Tufton insisted that internal polls by the party reveal a different result from the Don Anderson poll.

 

"First of all, let's make it clear. We don't attack polls. This is not our position. This JLP party and government, we tend to shy away from speaking too much about polls. We observe, we assess, we listen, and we then determine how we position ourselves in terms of our response or feedback and indeed our policies and programmes. We have observed those polls and I will only comment by saying that based on all the polls

that we have seen and those that we have conducted internally, we are comfortable that the Jamaica Labour Party has the momentum going into these elections on September 3rd and that's a comfortable position to be in, but it's not a reason to be complacent," he admitted. 

 

"So while these polls do offer some insights, we have also formed insights based on our own internal polls and we believe that there are some similarities in some areas and in other areas we have alternative views. But we are comfortable," insisted the campaign chairman.

 

Dr. Tufton also announced that in the coming days, the party will be ramping up its messaging to convince electors to return the JLP to government.

 

"In the coming days, you will see the strategy continue to reinforce the positives of the campaign, but there will be some pivoting around other things that we will highlight as part of nudging, encouraging, educating in some cases for persons who may not know, the Jamaican electorate as to what this party represents, why Andrew Holness is still the best choice to lead Jamaica into the next five years, why we have a team that is competent and why it is important for us to continue to build on the achievements that this government has made possible."

 

The Jamaica Labour Party will be launching its manifesto on Sunday at a party meeting in St. James.

 

This was disclosed Thursday by chairman of the JLP's Manifesto and Achievements Committee Kamina Johnson Smith. 

 

"We've heard people asking questions and we've heard people saying we want to see what's in the JLP manifesto, and we think that's great and we're responding to that, of course, by ensuring that we meet our commitment of having said to you that we will be sharing our manifesto in a new creative way and that we will make sure that we engage as deeply and widely with the Jamaican people as possible on the issue. And it is for this reason that 'I Choose Jamaica: The Next Chapter' will be launched for the first time out of Kingston. No manifesto has ever been launched outside of Kingston nor has one ever been launched at a mass rally, and it will be launched at Sam Sharpe Square at our mass rally on Sunday the 24th at 4pm," she announced.

 

Mrs. Johnson Smith also revealed that the party launched a website on Thursday highlighting its list of achievements in government since 2016.