by Linda Straker
- New caretakers went through approval process based on party’s constitution
- Noleen Thompson, Christopher DeAllie Jr, Jelani Glean and Amada Japal-George are NNP’s new caretakers
- Caretakers will be formally presented in a meet-and-greet at party headquarters today, 23 April
The National Executive of the main opposition New National Party (NNP) has appointed 4 caretakers in constituencies they lost in the June 2022 General Elections. The caretakers will be formally introduced to the public at a meet-and-greet event at the party’s headquarters today, 23 April.
Roland Bhola, NNP General Secretary, said that the four individuals went through an approval process based on the constitution of the party. “And so now, they are not candidates, they are caretakers for the constituencies. I don’t want people to get mixed up because a caretaker is not the same as a candidate. A caretaker can become a candidate when a general election is announced,” he said.
The new caretakers are:
- Noleen Thompson: caretaker for St David, which is currently represented in the Lower House of Parliament by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell
- Christopher DeAllie Jr: caretaker for St George South, which is currently represented in the Lower House of Parliament by Andy Williams
- Jelani Glean: caretaker for St Patrick West, which Joseph Andall currently represents
- Amada Japal-George: caretaker for St Andrew South-West, which is currently represented in the Lower House of Parliament by Lennox Andrews
Since the election of Emmalin Pierre as NNP political leader in December 2024, the party has been on a membership recruitment drive. At the same time,e the party is holding discussions with people whom the strategic committee believes will be caretakers to ensure that if there is a snap election, the party will be in a good position to have representation in all 15 constituencies.
A general election is constitutionally due no later than October 2027. During the fourth quarter of 2024, some political advocates and surrogates started predicting that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) would have a snap election after celebrating its third anniversary in June 2025.
However, in late 2024, Prime Minister Mitchell announced in parliament that the year 2025 will not be an election year. Speaking on the adjournment of the 18 December 2024 session of the Lower House, he said that his government is just getting started and having an election is not a priority.
