PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) Patriots President Omar Newell says most of the group’s members have committed to giving Mark Golding the nod to succeed party leader Dr Peter Phillips, who is set to demit office next month.

In an earlier interview with the Jamaica Observer, Newell had said the members of the young professional arm of the Opposition party would meet to discuss which of the two presidential candidates would receive their collective backing.

St Ann South Eastern Member of Parliament (MP) Lisa Hanna, who was nominated on Wednesday, is the other candidate vying to lead the party.

Since that interview, the group has been unable to definitively settle on one candidate, and its members have since been steadily declaring support for either candidate.

The Patriots boasts 26 delegates, who are expected to cast their ballots in the November 7 internal election.

“There are some members who believe that we should go individually, and there are some members who believe that we should endorse as an organisation. My own canvass is that my position has the support of the majority of members, but there are some formalities to be sorted. In terms of my own thinking of what the party needs, I feel Mark is the better of the two candidates, so I’m going with him,” Newell told the Observer earlier this week.

The group had previously met with both candidates, who are said to have presented their plans for the PNP.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/majority-pnp-patriots-backing-golding-says-president_206058?profile=1373