JAMAICANS Biden picks Harris as VP candidate
PREPARE TO
VOTE
tion United National Congress (UNC) of
former Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-
Bissessar.
Based on the margin of victories of
candidates from the governing People’s
National Movement (PNM), officials say
they do not expect the 22-19 parliamentary
seat margin to change but the commission
did order a freeze on an official
declaration of results until the process
is concluded later this week. The PNM
had dropped one seat to the UNC from
2015 results.
Elections have already been held this
year in Guyana, Suriname, St.Kitts,
Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands,
Trinidad and soon Jamaica. To follow
before the end of a record breaking year
are those for St. Vincent and Belize.
Outside of the bloc, the region has also
seen polls in Dutch St. Maarten and The
Dominican Republic even as there are
rumbling about a snap poll in Antigua.
Moments before the commission had
placed official results on hold, Prime
Minister Keith Rowley and other top
officials attended a thanksgiving church
service where he noted the level of stress
he and his party had endured on the
Caribbean L 12 ife, August 14-20, 2020
campaign trail. The win for the PNM
means that the PNM had successfully
stopped the march of Indo Caribbeanled
victories the three most resource
rich member states that also include
Guyana and Suriname. The UNC fell just
short of making it three in a row and
thereby creating history if it had won
the elections.
To the far north in Jamaica meanwhile,
PM Holness said the 23-day timeline
is designed primarily with the pandemic
in mind as officials fear low voter
turnouts could affect the JLP’s reelection
chances.
The voters scroll has 1,913, 410 eligible
voters. The JLP would be moving to
increase its razor thin one seat majority
in the 63-member house. The announcement
was made in parliament, without
the normal fanfare of motorcades and
honking car horns, a tribute to the dangers
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continued from Page 3
be nominated for national office by a
major US party.
She is also only the fourth woman
in American history to be selected for a
presidential ticket.
In 1972, the late Shirley Anita
Chisholm, née St. Hill, the daughter
of a Barbadian mother and a Guyanese
father, became the first Caribbean and
African American candidate to seek
nomination from a major US political
party for President of the United
States.
“Congratulations to my colleague
and sister-in-service Senator Kamala
Harris, Democrat of California on her
vice-presidential nomination,” Clarke,
the daughter of Jamaican immigrants,
who represents the predominantly Caribbean
9th Congressional District in
Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life.
“I am proud to serve in Congress
alongside my fellow Jamaican colleague
and change maker who is paying the
way for women of color in politics and
beyond,” she added. “Today truly marks
a historic milestone for the Democratic
Party and the American People.
“Senator Harris embodies and is
the epitome of the American dream,”
Clarke continued. “She will be a vigorous
campaigner, a fearless leader and
a worthy confidante to former Vice
President Biden.
“For the first time in our history,
millions of little girls of color across
our nation will soon have someone in
the White House that looks like them
and unequivocally speaks for them,”
she said.
The congresswoman said Harris’s
intellect and ability are “above reproach
and serve as an inspiration to us all.”
In selecting Harris, Clarke said
Biden has “answered the call of the
moment.
“Her selection is the jet fuel that
will provide the momentum and excitement
required in this transformational
era, where change is being demanded
in the streets,” she said. “This is a
launching pad for the inclusive, people
first campaign that will take down the
current administration in November.”
Haitian American New York State
Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte
also told Caribbean Life Tuesday night
that Harris is “an inspired choice”
and “a well-credentialed woman who is
battle-tested on the campaign trail and
in debates.
“She will join Joe Biden in restoring
saneness and wisdom to the White
House while helping to win back the
United States Senate,” said Bichotte,
chair of the Brooklyn (Kings County)
Democratic Party, who represents the
42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn.
“She reflects the rising diversity of
the nation and the party,” Bichotte
added. “We in Brooklyn are ready to
roll up our sleeves and elect the Biden-
Harris team this November.”
Continued from Page 3
Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew
Holness.
REUTERS / Brendan Mcdermid, File
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