THE EDITOR, Sir:SHALMAN SCOTT made a few very interesting points in his article on March 12, called 'Scrutinising the votes'. I was one of the people who was caught up in the hype surrounding the election of Portia Simpson Miller as PNP
president, so much so that I did not realise that "2,033 of the 3,808 delegates who did not vote for Portia Simpson Miller represent 53.3 per cent or more than half of the total PNP delegate density".
The media has portrayed Portia as the overwhelming choice of the Jamaican people, to not only lead the PNP, but also to lead the nation. However, Shalman Scott's article puts the numbers into perspective and raises doubts as to the validity of claims of her cross-party popularity. If Portia Simpson Miller cannot even get the support of the majority of the delegates in her own PNP party, I cannot imagine that she will attract any support from the JLP voters or even the uncommitted voter.
VOTER MATURITY
The PNP presidential elections, it has been said, showed the independence of the delegates and a maturing of the Jamaican voters. Portia's victory against the wishes of the "mainstream of the PNP organisational machinery" is testimony to that. However, her victory also raises the question of whether the electorate will also welcome her as PNP president while rejecting the PNP as a party in the next general elections, as not even Portia's personal popularity can erase 17 years of PNP non-performance and the general fear that the high levels of crime and violence have created in Jamaica.
I am, etc.,
CAROL SOUTHLONG
carolsouthlong@hotmail.com
Kingston 8
Via Go-Jamaica
