Part of the large audience that crammed into Tarrant High School for Dr Peter Phillips' Arise and Renew constituency conference on Sunday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Members of Dr Peter Phillips' Arise and Renew team remained upbeat Monday, despite reports that a recent canvas has shown Portia Simpson Miller being retained as the president of the People's National Party (PNP).

The two sides are now preparing election day-strategies and making final contact with the delegates ahead of Saturday's poll.

But, the Phillips backers say Sunday's delegates conference in his East Central St Andrew constituency underscored their claim that a victory is assured.

Immediately after his address to the packed auditorium at the Tarrant High School, an upbeat Phillips told The Gleaner he was confident of a victory.

Maxine Henry Wilson, a key Phillips organiser, was also upbeat, as she scoffed at reports that the Simpson Miller team, which was meeting at the National Indoor Centre, had pulled out 1,890 delegates from three regions.

"Our campaign is based on interfacing with delegates in private settings where they can question the candidate and he can give them answers that are satisfactory. We have two meetings left and we are satisfied that we are ahead," Henry Wilson added.

Period of renewal

Her comment came minutes after Phillips told the crowd that he wanted to lead the PNP through a period of renewal.

"The PNP is our only real inheritance and we have an obligation to care for it, to nurture it and to ensure that we hand it on, to the generations coming in, a good condition".

Phillips made it clear that, while he was critical of the Bruce Golding administration, he was not prepared to bash the Government without cause.

"Even as we compete for state power we can find a way to combine our energies to fight against crime, ignorance and poverty," Phillips added.

While avoiding any mention of the sitting president, Phillips left little doubt that he was not convinced that she could do any better than Golding.

"False promises and political gimmickry were used to fool the Jamaican people last year and, if Jamaica is to find its way out of this crisis, we need a strong, vibrant, renewed PNP," said Philips.

To loud cheers, he told the comrades that the public must be convinced that the leadership of the PNP has the capacity to take the lead in the development of a new political order for Jamaica.