Hayles says JLP leaders trying to recruit him
Published:Wednesday | November 9, 2011 | 12:00 AM
BY Daraine Luton, enior Staff Reporter
West Hanover Member of Parliament Ian Hayles is claiming that persons within the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have been trying to get him to switch political allegiance.
"The approaches have been as recent as Sunday," Hayles, a former Labourite, told The Gleaner.
A well-placed JLP source said Hayles and Basil Waite, whose candidacy for North East St Elizabeth is yet to be ratified by the People's National Party (PNP), have been the target of advances from the governing party.
Up to press time, The Gleaner could not contact Aundré Franklin, general secretary of the JLP, for comment. Similarly, attempts to reach Waite up to press time were unsuccessful.
In the meantime, Hayles said the JLP was in search of talent while at the same time using recruitment from the PNP as a public relations exercise.
"They are trying to create a facade that they are more attractive than the PNP," Hayles told The Gleaner yesterday.
But Daryl Vaz, a member of the JLP, said he did not buy Hayles' story.
"I think Ian has it the wrong way. The Labour party is filled with strong candidates and there is no shortage of personnel," Vaz said.
Comrades lining up
On Sunday Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the JLP leader-in-waiting, told Labourites at a constituency meeting in South Trelawny that more PNP members were lining up to join his party.
Sharon Hay-Webster, who resigned from the PNP in June, joined the JLP last week saying Holness' promise of a better politics was attractive.
Hayles, who served as personal assistant to former JLP leader Edward Seaga alongside Holness and David Panton, declined to name the persons in the JLP who have been attempting to contact him.
He told The Gleaner that he constantly gives the same response when the JLP comes calling.
"I am happy where I am. I feel comfortable in the People's National Party. They took me in and gave me an opportunity to run on their ticket in 2007, knowing that I was coming from the Labour party. They took a chance with me and I am on a life-long journey with them," Hayles said.
PNP insiders say there are jitters that Hayles could switch back to the JLP to join his friend, Holness. It was Holness who had introduced Hayles to Seaga before he broke away from the JLP in 2006.
However, the West Hanover MP says there is no chance of him singing 'Shower, Labourites', a refrain of the JLP; not even with his friend as prime minister.
"Andrew and I are good friends but where our politics meet is where we separate," he said.
Added Hayles: "When I left the Labour party I had 16 green shirts in my closet and I gave them away. I now have 23 orange shirts in my closet and I plan on keeping them all to serve me for a lifetime in the PNP."
Dragged to court
Hayles won West Hanover by 173 votes over the JLP's Donavan Hamilton in 2007. He has since been dragged to court over allegations that he was not eligible to be elected to the House by virtue of him being a US citizen at the time of his nomination.
Hayles has denied the claims saying he commenced the process of renouncing his US citizenship before Nomination Day, 2007.
The PNP's Ralston Anson had won the seat by 1,765 votes in 2002 and Hayles has promised to restore and surpass that margin in the next general election.
"The JLP is in trouble and they know it. The people of this country have made up their minds to get rid of them whenever the elections are called," Hayles said.