Diaspora Council elections set for January, February

Voting for members of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) will commence on January 28 and end on February 20.

The elections for members of the GJDC were originally scheduled to be held this month but were postponed due to Hurricane Melissa and the mobilisation of the diaspora to assist in relief efforts to the island.

The new timeline, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, will see the nomination period ending on January 19, publication of the final slate of candidates will be done on January 21 and the campaign period will last from January 21-27, with voting taking place from January 28 to February 20.

Certification of the elections results will be done on February 23, with the list of winners announced on February 24.

The previous timeline had the nominating period to recommend candidates set for November 1 to November 20. The voting period, when the council members would be voted on, was originally scheduled to run from November 23 to December 16.

The Gleaner understands that the new council will see several new faces as members.

The two current members from the United Kingdom will not be seeking re-election, having been term limited. In the United States, only one of the existing three members – Michelle Tulloch-Neil - will be seeking re-election.

Shauna Chin, who previously represented the US West-Midwest Region and who served as vice chair of the council, will not be running for re-election because of being term limited. In the US South Region, the current representative will also not be seeking re-election.

Over in Canada, the current two members will also not be seeking re-election, having been term limited.

Several people in the Northeast, Western and Southern regions have signalled their intentions to run to be elected members of the Council, which is an advisory body to the minister of foreign affairs.

The Gleaner understands that, for the US Northeast Region, among those who have thrown their hats in the ring to be elected diaspora council member are Tulloch-Neil, the current council member; Hope Wade, Tamar Newman and Wilfred Rattigan.

For the US Southern Region, The Gleaner understands that three people, so far, are running. They are Janice McIntosh, Lorraine Smith and Dianne Watson.

Over in the US West/Midwest, Dr Z. Roy Davidson has been nominated to run for the council.

The GJDC comprises 29 members in total – 14 of whom are voted on by members of the diaspora, with the other 15 members selected and appointed by the minister of foreign affairs, who has responsibility for diaspora affairs. The members of the council serve for a period of three years.

Three years ago, the turnout of people voting in the elections was extremely low.

A breakdown of the votes shows that, for the US Northeast Region, 574 persons were invited to vote in the election. Of that figure, only 250 actually voted. In the US South Region, some 1,792 people were invited to vote. Of that number, 1,208 actually voted. In the US West/Midwest Region, 246 people were invited to vote. Of that figure, 203 voted. In Canada, 199 people were invited to vote, and 129 voted. In the UK North, 196 persons were invited to vote, and 95 voted. In the UK South, 102 persons were invited to vote, and 47 actually voted.

The low turnout in the vote totals, especially in the US Northeast Region, which has the largest concentration of Jamaicans, suggested a lack of interest, as well as people being turned off because of the fits and starts with the election process.

The Gleaner understands that, already, all the committees and chairs of the committees to oversee the process are in place and the hope is that, in this election cycle, more people will participate in the voting process.

A spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Gleaner that the elections will follow similar lines to the previous ones.

The ministry spokesperson stated that the idaspora election is not expected to cost any significant amount of money.

editorial@gleanerjm.com