In the story ‘Golding saddles to the east’, carried on A4 of Sunday's Gleaner, it was stated that Daryl Vaz polled 9,977 votes in the September 2007 general election. Vaz in fact polled 6,977.

We apologise for the error.

PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding is expected to electrify an already energised band of labourites when he rides east to West Portland for a political rally today.

Golding, the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), is aiming to whip up support for Daryl Vaz ahead of the March 23 by-election in the constituency.

His visit to Buff Bay comes on the heels of a significant ground campaigning by the leadership of the opposition People's National Party yesterday.

The PNP is seeking to regain the seat it lost in the 2007 general election.

Important win

Winning West Portland is important for the governing JLP, which holds a razor-thin majority in the lower House of Parliament. The party won 32 of the 60 House seats in the September 3, 2007 election, and would find itself in uncomfortable territory if Vaz were to lose.

Up to press time yesterday, the PNP had not settled on a candidate to oppose Vaz in the election.

Sunday Gleaner sources said that attempts were being made to convince Doreen Forbes to represent the party.

Forbes was set to contest the general election for the PNP, but she dropped out at the last moment making way for Abe Dabdoub. Dabdoub went on to poll 6,033 votes to Vaz's 6,977. After the election, he rushed to court and had Vaz disqualified as he was an American citizen at the time of being elected, which is prohibited by the constitution.

PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill said the party will reveal it candidate in due time.

"We are playing this one like Alfred Hitchcock, keeping you in suspense," Pickersgill told The Gleaner yesterday.

He added: "All our strategies including that (who is the candidate) will unfold," Pickersgill said.

Excellent record

Asked about the possibility of installing Forbes as its candidate, Pickersgill said, "Doreen is someone with an excellent record at the local level in the constituency so that would not surprise me, either if her name were to come up or if people were advocating on her behalf."

Meanwhile, JLP supporters in West Portland have been in a jubilant mood since Friday, February 27, when the Court of Appeal upheld Chief Justice Zaila McCalla's ruling that a by-election takes, place in the constituency.

Golding subsequently announced Friday, March 6, as nomination day and March 23 election day.

- Daraine Luton