Angelo Laurence, Gleaner Writer

Supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and those of the People's National Party (PNP) squared off with bottles, stones and sticks in the centre of Mandeville early yesterday morning.

At the end of the fracas, one man was stabbed to death while another was left nursing minor wounds.

The confrontation ignited when a contractor attempted to erect a billboard on behalf of JLP candidate for Central Manchester, Sally Porteous in the Mandeville park facing the town square. People's National Party supporters objected to its erection and demanded its removal, which angered JLP supporters on hand.

Within minutes, a large crowd had gathered donned in colours from both sides and proceeded to hurl obscenities at each other as well as at candidates Porteous and the PNP's Peter Bunting.

At one point the police, who were quick on the scene, had to fire a shot in the air to prevent the marauding supporters from attacking each other.

However, this did not prevent a man, who sells in the market, from being stabbed to death amid the hurling of stones and bottles.

Reluctant to cease the work

The contractor, who appeared reluctant to cease the work on the billboard, was ordered to remove it by police. According to Supt. Martin Bayliss, the officer in charge of the Manchester police, there was an agreement between the candidates that no campaign billboards or flags would be erected within the confines of the town centre.

Last week, it was pointed out that the PNP had posted a flag in the town centre and it was promptly taken down by the police.

With tempers flaring and the crowd numbering in the thousands, the police took charge of the situation and escorted the two candidates, who had arrived on the scene, to the police station where they held a closed-door meeting.

At the end of the meeting both candidates emerged holding hands while declaring their intention to run peaceful campaigns.

They agreed to rein in their supporters and ban all political activity within the precincts of the town centre where the courthouse is also located.

However, after the candidates addressed their supporters and left the immediate area, a number of them regrouped on either side of the town and the confrontation picked up where it left off. It was at this point that the murder took place.

Supt. Bayliss said the attacker, who is still on the loose, is well known to the police. He, however, would not say from which side of the political divide he was from. The dead man has been identified as 23-year-old Mark Taylor of Christiana. According to an eyewitness, an argument developed between the men over the payment of a debt and that led to the stabbing.

Police have also banned political meetings in the town.