By-elections will be held in three Jamaican parliamentary constituencies on October 30.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who announced the date for the elections, said that Nomination Day will be October 9.
The three constituencies are St. Mary South Eastern, St. Andrew Southern and St. Andrew South Western.
Most attention will on the St. Mary contest, where Dr. Norman Dunn of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Dr. Shane Alexis of the People’s National Party are expected to be the two main candidates.
The seat became vacant recently with the sudden passing of the MP, Dr. Winston Green of the PNP. Dr. Green had very narrowly defeated Dr. Dunn in the 2016 general election, and it is anticipated that the contest will again be very competitive.
On the other hand, it is widely expected that the PNP will retain both St. Andrew seats which have long been bastions of support for the party.
South West St. Andrew was held for decades by the PNP’s Portia Simpson Miller, who rose through the ranks of the party to become its president and then Prime Minister of Jamaica. She recently retired from politics, clearing the way for a new MP to be elected.
Dr. Omar Davies, Jamaica’s longest serving Finance Minister (and later Minister of Transport, Works & Housing) was MP for St. Andrew Southern for two-and-a-half decades. He also retired earlier this year
