Knight cooling Waite hate

HOUSE OF Representatives hopeful Basil Waite was yesterday confronted by People's National Party (PNP) activists from North East St Elizabeth who continue to express their desire to have him replaced as the constituency caretaker.

Waite, a senator, was unceremoniously greeted by the handful of supporters as he arrived late yesterday afternoon outside the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court where sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Kern Spencer is being tried for corruption and money laundering.

The constituents say Waite is abrasive and they will not support him if the party insists he become the candidate.

A member of the constituency executive slapped her orange handkerchief against Waite's SUV as he attempted to park in the courtyard.

She then moved to pull Spencer away. He was standing beside K.D. Knight, the man the PNP has designated as the mediator in what has become a brawl in the constituency.

The drinking saloon

Knight, however, stood firm as he summoned Waite and Spencer to a drinking saloon located across from the court. It is unclear what took place inside the saloon, but there appears to be no love lost between them.

Neither of the men greeted each other, and Spencer walked to the saloon while talking on his cellular phone for most of the journey.

Waite, meanwhile, lacked real purpose in his step but was the first to make his way to the site of mediation, followed by Knight and Spencer.

Spencer, a first-term MP, has announced that he will not be standing for re-election in the next national vote. Waite replaced him in a fractious internal poll, but since then, groups of constituents have called for his replacement, saying he is not the right man for the job.

"We have been telling the party to listen to us or else this seat will end up in the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) column," a constituent said.

Another, claiming to be a party worker, said she was prepared to withdraw her services and not help in getting out the voters on election day.

"All we are asking is that the party listen to the voice of the people," the constituent said.

On Sunday, the PNP's National Executive Council endorsed Waite as candidate for the constituency.

PNP General Secretary Peter Bunting said that as far as the party was concerned, the matter was closed and Waite would be the candidate, irrespective of those who would want it to be otherwise.

Yesterday, Knight described the meeting in the saloon as "cordial and progressive," adding that the parties would move forward.

"I think it augurs well for the future," he told The Gleaner.