Seaga
Devon Evans, Freelance Writer
THE GOVERNMENT will have a stiff challenge on its hands when the new Parliament opens, says Opposition Leader Edward Seaga.
According to Mr. Seaga, the Opposition is going to be the strongest one in the history of the country.
He is promising to "keep the Government on its toes" and purge it of arrogance.
In his first public engagement since the October 16 General Election, Mr. Seaga told a gathering of party supporters on Friday at Pipers Resorts in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, that the JLP won 14 more seats than it had prior to the election, while the PNP lost 14 seats it had held. He said that while the JLP gained 50,000 more votes than in 1997, the PNP lost 52,000 votes than it had in 1997.
"So we won all the secondary prizes and the PNP won the big one, but those secondary prizes when put together are going to make the JLP the strongest Opposition in the history of Jamaica," he added.
Arguing that this was not a bad position for the JLP to find itself in, Mr. Seaga added, "What that means is that we are not holding the blade any longer. We now hold a part of the handle, along with the PNP and of such we can say that we will become the strongest Opposition facing a weak Government."
He said the JLP intends to keep the Government on its toes and ensure that the arrogance with which it conducts affairs in Parliament is no longer a part of how the House conducts business.
"We intend to see to it that they do not ignore the vital committees and shut them down, so that the truth cannot be revealed. We intend to see that good governance will reign in this period of Government by the PNP."
The JLP Leader is confident that if the party sticks together as a team and effectively carry out its plan, the present PNP Government will not be able to last a full term. "Not with the conditions that lie ahead," he said.
He said that the outcome of the general election must not be seen as any decisive victory for the PNP.
"I want to tell them that this was not a losing situation for the Jamaica Labour Party. It was not a winning situation for the People's National Party. It was a win/lose situation for both parties," he said.
Mr. Seaga congratulated the people of St. Ann for giving the JLP three of the four parliamentary seats, and described the victory of Verna Parchment in North West St. Ann as the star performance of the October 16 General Election.
The dinner was held in Mrs. Parchment's honour.
