Bunting flexing his muscles

Bunting, the PNP's candidate for the constituency, is defending a slim 115-vote margin which he recorded in the 2007 general election over the JLP's Sally Porteous.

His opponent for the December 29 election is Danville Walker, who, at the time of the 2007 polls, was director of elections.

Flexing his muscles in Mandeville - a town which was saturated with JLP supporters two weeks ago when prime minister and JLP leader, Andrew Holness, held a mass meeting there to announce the election date - Bunting was upbeat.

While the PNP crowd in Mandeville was not nearly as big as the JLP's, Bunting was grinning from ear to ear as he argued that the people there were predominantly from Manchester.

He alleged that this was not the case for the JLP meeting, as that was nationally mobilised.

Introduced to the PNP supporters as "the real, lean fighting machine", Bunting revived memories of his 2007 campaign promise to "lock down central Manchester".

"They say they don't like me to use the term 'lock down', but when yuh look out at this ocean of orange, what they going to say? We have taken the town," Bunting declared.

"Tonight, we just have a little parish meeting and look how the place sell-off. We are going to show them that the biggest lie dem tell is that Scrappy (the PNP's moniker for Walker) can win in Central Manchester," Bunting said.

In the meantime, Michael Peart, the PNP candidate for South Manchester and four-time MP, said he has nothing to fear from Collin Virgo, his JLP opponent.

"Dem have a young man say him a run against me and, as I tell the other four weh I beat already, you a run backa me. You nah run side a mi, and yuh caah come in front a me, yuh affi run behind me," said Peart.

"Mi a go show him how PNP strong inna South Manchester. I am going to do to him what I have done to every other candidate that run against me from the Jamaica Labour Party. When mi done wid yuh, yuh caah run nuh where else inna Jamaica, yuh done," added Peart.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com