D.K. Duncan

ONE DAY ahead of the People's National Party's (PNP) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting where the party is slated to elect a new general secretary, Dr. D.K. Duncan is said to be weighing his options.

Gleaner sources have said that Dr. Duncan is getting ready to pull out of Sunday's race, which could leave Peter Bunting, the Central Manchester member of parliament, in pole position for the job.

Dr Duncan could not be reached for comment last night but his daughter, Imani Duncan-Waite, said that this is farthest from the truth.

"He is not doubtful. He is just being clear about what is needed for the position of general secretary at this time," Duncan-Waite told The Gleaner.

She said that her father would be in the job as general secretary of the PNP for a short time to help with party organisation in case of a snap election or by-elections due to several contested seats in the court.

However, one senior NEC member who asked not be identified said that Dr Duncan has passed his time and that the party does not need someone to "stop a gap".

"What the party needs is a strong person with a clear vision of where to take the party," said the NEC member.

"If I were Dr Duncan I would pull out, because based on what I am seeing in the party now, Bunting is going to win 80 per cent of the votes," the member added.

Approximately 300 persons would vote in Sunday's election to fill the void created by the departure of Donald Buchanan.

First-time opposition

If Dr Duncan remains in the race, it would have been the first time that the two-time general secretary would be faced with a contest for the job. He was PNP general secretary between 1974 and 1977 and from 1979 to 1983, but was unopposed on both occasions.

A returnee to active politics, Dr Duncan is the member of parliament (MP) for Eastern Hanover, having beaten the Jamaica Labour Party's Barrington Gray by 12 votes in a magisterial recount following the September 3, 2007 general election.

Bunting, a former investment banker, is also a returnee to active politics. He had been MP for South East Clarendon between 1993 and 1997 before leaving to pursue business.

Bunting, however, returned on the eve of last year's election to win the Central Manchester seat for the PNP, which opinion polls had suggested was heading to the JLP before his arrival.