No Election Before New Voters List Published, Says Jamaica PM

KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, who says she is waiting the touch from God before announcing the date for the next general election, has told supporters that they will probably know the date for the polls only after the Voters List is published on November 30.

Addressing a mass rally in Black River, St Elizabeth, last Sunday night, Prime Minister Simpson Miller said, Jamaica will not go to the polls on the current voters’ list.

“The youth of Jamaica should be given an equal opportunity to have a say in the way their country is governed,” she told supporters of her ruling People’s National Party (PNP).

There has been widespread speculation that the election, constitutionally due by December 29, 2016, could take place this year, and both the PNP and the main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have been holding public rallies across the country in anticipation of an election date.

But Prime Minister Simpson Miller said, the decision to wait until the next voters’ list is published on November 30 is a result of the “soundings” being accessed across the island.

Some 37,000 new voters will be added to the list when a new one is published this month end.

In addition, Prime Minister Simpson Miller said, that her party is calling off its political meetings until after the Christmas, saying she wanted Jamaicans to have a peaceful Christmas Season.

But, she said, she remained confident that the PNP would be victorious whenever the polls are called.

“Our job now is to support all the candidates in all constituencies in St Elizabeth to secure victory in the next election.

“There is no time to waste. The hour is at hand. We must have oil in our lamps and unity in our camp,” she said.

The JLP has said, it is prepared to await the publication of the new Voters List and is also confident of winning the election.

In the last general election, the PNP won 42 of the 63 seats.