Above: Audley Shaw

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Following months of speculation, Jamaican Opposition MP Audley Shaw announced Sunday that he would be challenging Andrew Holness for the leadership of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party.

Shaw made the announcement in an address on Sunday, calling for the JLP to “recapture the fervour of the founding years of our nationhood, where every Jamaican believed that they had a stake in the development of this nation.”

Pointing to what he saw as disunity within the opposition, Shaw said that, following a series of island-wide consultations, he had found that the “JLP now needs strong, visionary and decisive leadership, a leadership that will rekindle hope in our Party and our country.”

Shaw is currently the Opposition spokesman on finance, having served as Finance Minister from 2007 to 2012 under former Prime Minister Bruce Golding and, briefly, Holness.

“Ihave heard the calls. I have listened to your appeals. I have consulted with and received the blessing and support of my family. I have prayed to God for Guidance,” he said. “I have now come to the decision that I will allow my name to be entered into nomination for the post of Leader of this great 70 year -old movement, the Jamaica Labour Party that was formed by the Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante.”

Shaw said the JLP had an opportunity to “show Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world, that our Party respects democracy internally, because the affirmation of our own internal democracy will make us better able to secure lasting democracy for our country.”

Shaw will formally launch his campaign for the JLP leadership on Sept. 29, when he will present the details of his “plans to rebuild our party.”