Junor
Junor wins recount
Jamaica Gleaner
Monday November 4, 2002
Junor
MANDEVILLE:
MEMBER OF Parliament for Central Manchester, John Junor, says that the magisterial recount for the constituency was a "waste of time."
Mr. Junor was speaking in the Mandeville courthouse on Friday, minutes after he was declared the winner of the seat for the third time, by Returning Officer Caswell Burton, at the end of a five-day magisterial recount.
Mr. Junor of the Peo-ple's National Party (PNP) received 8,331 votes and his opponent, Norman Horne of the Jamaica Labour Party(JLP), received 7209.
He said that the "campaign was not characterised by graciousness" and claimed that the behaviour of his opponent "manifested itself in the fact" that, although the election was conducted in "fairness," the court and other persons were forced to spend five days of "time-wasting" doing a recount.
According to Mr. Junor, who has been reappointed Minister of Health in the Cabinet of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, this is his last "furore". He said as he has done since entering politics in 1976, he will continue to serve with commitment to good governance and the people.
He called for legislation to make the cost of a magisterial recount more practical to prevent, what he termed "frivolous" reasons being used to demand a recount. His margin of victory of 1,122 votes was the same as the final count by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).
Mr. Horne, who was not present on Friday, will bear the cost of $40,000 awarded to Mr. Junor and his lawyer, Owen Crosbie.