The weakened People's National Party (PNP) machinery is being put to the test, with many of its senior officers unavailable to soothe raging tempers stoked by the hotly contested selection process on Sunday.

The largely unpublicised contest for the vacant East Rural St Andrew publicly seat is threatening to explode in the absence of party President Portia Simpson Miller, Chairman Robert Pickersgill and General Secretary Peter Bunting. These parly leaders are reportedly on a trip overseas.

Well-placed party insiders say Sunday's contest at the PNP's Old Hope Road, St Andrew, head-quarters ended with more than 100 eligible voting delegates turned away without casting their ballots.

In the aftermath of the contest, former Member of Parliament Oliver Clue has resigned as a figure in the party's powerful National Executive Council.

Clue, a long-time Peter Phillips supporter, on Monday addressed his letter to the absent general secretary, and in it expressed his dissatisfaction with how the election was conducted.

Vice-president of the PNP, Angella Brown-Burke, and Deputy Chairman Anthony Hylton have accompanied the other officials overseas, while Deputy General Secretary Julian Robinson was out on personal matters.

Quarrel over cut-off time

Alston Stewart, a Simpson Miller loyalist who presided over the polls in the absence of the bigwigs, locked the gates at 2 p.m., the exact time the polls were scheduled to close.

But this did not go down well with those who were prevented from voting.

"The poll closed at 2, with a lot of delegates yet to vote ... . Fifty per cent of the persons on the list did not get to vote," one PNP supporter told The Gleaner.

The rumblings grew louder as party insiders complained that there was no one with any influence to whom they could turn.

"People not happy with how the proceedings went," an influential insider close to the East Rural St Andrew base, told The Gleaner.

In the ensuing count, the delegates who voted for Peter Blake narrowly outnumbered Paul Buchanan and Andrew Willis.

Stewart could not be reached for comment.

Buchanan is twice unlucky as he was replaced as the candidate for the strong Central Westmoreland constituency at the eleventh hour during the 2007 general election.

The PNP believes it will be able to reclaim East Rural St Andrew following Mikael Phillips' narrow loss to Joseph Hibbert in 2007.

Hibbert also defeated Clue in 2002.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com