(Jamaica Gleaner) West Portland on Monday forcefully rejected an application from People’s National Party (PNP) candidate Kenneth Rowe to be its member of parliament, and opted instead to have the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Daryl Vaz resume representing it in the House of Representatives.
At the end of the day, Vaz polled 7,915 votes to Rowe’s 5,626, becoming the first candidate to score more than 7,000 votes in West Portland.
Astor Black, of the New Jamaica Alliance, polled 27 votes.
Vaz bettered his showing in the 2007 general election, when he polled 6,977 votes to defeat the PNP’s Abraham Dabdoub, who received 6,033 from the 74 per cent of those who voted. On Monday, 72.6 per cent voted.
The win restored the JLP’s 32-28 majority which, however, remains in danger, with three JLP MPs facing court challenges for having allegedly pledged allegiance to a foreign power.
