Holness confirms Samuda's retirement, sprint on to finalise St Andrew NC rep
Published:Tuesday | May 27, 2025 | 1:57 AM
Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Monday confirmed that veteran Member of Parliament Karl Samuda will not seek re-election, formally setting the stage for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to restart the search for a St Andrew North Central representative.
“Today I had a great meeting with the executive of North Central St Andrew at which the chairman for the constituency, the Hon. Karl Samuda, formally indicated that he is not seeking re-election,” Holness said in a social media post on May 26. He also shared photos with Samuda and constituency officials.
He described the moment as “touching” and “received in a family atmosphere”.
The leader also called attention to Samuda’s 45 years of service in representational politics, including as parliamentarian and government minister.
“He has built an enviable legacy,” Holness said.
Holness did not give a timeline for a decision, saying only that “the process of selecting a representative to carry on the people’s business will restart in earnest”.
The general election is expected by September.
The confirmation comes one week after the party’s secretariat revealed that Senator Delano Seiveright and attorney Christian Tavares-Finson, who were seen as front-runners for the seat, had both withdrawn their applications to represent the JLP in the general election, which is widely expected before September.
Their withdrawals followed weeks of escalating tensions among factions within the constituency and claims that Seiveright, a recently appointed junior tourism minister, was being sidelined by senior party figures in favour of Tavares-Finson, son of Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson.
In mid-April, Seiveright publicly announced he had applied for the seat, a move political organiser Pauline Samuda described as a strategic bid to pre-empt Tavares-Finson’s rollout. She is married to the outgoing MP.
By early May, supporters of Seiveright confronted JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang at the party's Belmont Road headquarters in New Kingston, demanding clarity on the process. Shortly after, Seiveright said he would pause his campaign “to allow the party the space it needs to move forward in unity and strength”, but insisting it was “not a withdrawal”.
Chang also told The Gleaner that while Tavares-Finson submitted a formal application, Seiveright had only written a letter of interest. Mrs Samuda disputed this, maintaining that the application was properly submitted through her husband.
The Gleaner has also seen correspondence suggesting that Seiveright applied on April 16. A month earlier, Samuda had also written to Chang informing him that the JLP executive in the constituency supported Seiveright as his replacement. Samuda endorsed Seiveright as his constituency vice-chairman last November.
St Andrew North Central has been held by Samuda since 1980 and is considered a JLP stronghold.
Lee Clarke and Susan Senior, the councillors representing the two divisions in the constituency, have declared support for Seiveright.
Seiveright's support for Audley Shaw, who unsuccessfully challenged Holness for party leadership a decade ago, has also been raised a possible reason why elements of the party hierarchy are reportedly against the senator getting a so-called safe seat.