Omar Anderson, Gleaner WriterA significant portion of the membership of the People's National Party (PNP) Women's Movement has lined up behind leadership contender Dr. Peter Phillips.
This is despite the fact that vice-president Portia Simpson Miller, also a presidential candidate, has been president of the organisation for 22 years.
Region Two of the PNP Women's Movement was scheduled to hold a rally today at 3:00 p.m. at the Port Antonio Marina in Portland. It was expected that this region would have endorsed Dr. Phillips. The rally, however, was postponed due to the inclement weather.
phillips said to have female support
The Phillips campaign claims that Dr. Phillips has been able to gobble up majority women's support in the PNP's Regions Two, Three and Six, the largest of the party's six regions. These regions comprise Kingston and St. Andrew, Portland, St. Mary, St. Thomas, St. James, Westmoreland and Hanover.
Mrs. Simpson Miller's camp is similarly claiming majority support in Regions One, Four and Five. These include St. Ann, Trelawny, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.
But yesterday, Jennifer Edwards, secretary to Team Portia, and one of Mrs. Simpson Miller's vice-presidents in the Women's Movement, told The Sunday Gleaner that her candidate still had strong support among women, generally, in the PNP.
"The Women's Movement is not an extension of Team Portia, although we are seeking the support of as many delegates as possible," she said in defence of the split support Mrs. Simpson Miller enjoys in the Women's Movement.
She added that, as a collective body, the Women's Movement cannot endorse a particular candidate, although individual members are free to do so. Additionally, Mrs. Edwards said officers in that movement change periodically, hence the preference for different candidates.
"The Women's Movement is not a homogenous organisation," she stated. "It's difficult to say you have the support of the Women's Movement when you have officers who change every two years."
Meanwhile, pointing to what should have been today's Region Two rally endorsing Dr. Peter Phillips, Mrs. Edwards said that did not represent the majority support of the Women's Movement in that region.
"It is a public relations gimmick," she claimed. "It's some women in the region who are having the rally, and not the core of the Women's Movement."
For his part, Dr. Paul Robertson, campaign director for Dr. Phillips, was careful in his comments yesterday, regarding his candidate's support in the Women's Movement.
"It's part of the democratic process in the party," he told The Sunday Gleaner. "People have observed the two candidates over the years; they have both made significant contributions to the party, so some people will go one way and some will go the other."
