A confetti shower rained down on Prime Minister P.J Patterson as he gives the crowd the double four-fingered salute, while his motorcade waded through a sea of ardent PNP supporters in Linstead Square on Friday night.Michael Sloley/ Freelance Photographer

On Friday, the Prime Minister conducted a whirlwind tour through the hamlets, towns and sleepy districts of rural St. Catherine in an effort to stir up support for People's National Party (PNP) candidates in the October 16 general election.

The Prime Minister, attired in a light green pants, and a snazzy orange striped shirt, arrived in Ebony Vale at 2:54 p.m. Whenever he stuck his head out of the sun roof of the Chevrolet Mark III VAN, he gave his now ubiquitous four-fingered salute indicative of the party faithful's hopes for the prospect of a record-setting fourth term.

Led by a van with speakers mounted on top, the motorcade then swung into the Ebony Vale community. When it returned to the main road, buses and cars packed with flag-waving supporters joined the procession lengthening the convoy's tail considerably in the West Central St. Catherine constituency.

By the time the motorcade zoomed past the Electoral Office of Jamaica branch in Kitson Town at 3:30 p.m., it had grown to almost 15 cars.

As word of the PM's approach spread through the 'bush telegraph', residents of the area appeared on their verandahs, and outside their gates. Some, dressed in bright orange 'Log on to Alethia Barker' shirts, lined the road and cheered their Prime Minister as he flew passed them.

Gradually, the road narrowed as the environs became more 'rustic', and the procession was forced to snake through narrow roads bordered by green bushes and shrubbery. Rain slicked the roads black, as a light drizzle had begun.

The motorcade arrived at Point Hill Square at 4:09 p.m. A hesitant drizzle hung suspended in the air. There was a quiet buzz among the smattering of persons present as the Prime Minister's head popped out of the van's sun-roof once more. Someone handed him an umbrella, and he addressed the crowd in his distinctive speaking voice.

"I want to commend Alethia Barker for her tender care and precious keeping, she has made an important contribution to improving the life of people in this constituency. Between '97 to the present, she has done more for water, basic schools, rural electrification and generating employment for farmers than under years of the JLP tenure. I need her back in Parliament so the progress can continue," he said to loud cheers and applause from the small crowd huddled under colourful umbrellas.

The Prime Minister then popped back into the van, and minutes later, the procession rolled into the constituency of North Western St. Catherine. The motorcade arrived in Luidas Vale at 4:35 p.m. where a large crowd gave him a rousing welcome as the PNP party song favourite, Half Pint's 'Greetings' blared out from nearby speakers.

Member of Parliament Robert Pickersgill, reminded the crowd about the Linstead meeting later that evening suggesting that "if you don't have enough buses or cars, if you start walk now, you will reach in time".

The crowd roared with laughter.

As rain spat from the overcast sky, the Prime Minister addressed the crowd gathered in the square.

"Under the PNP, Lluidas Vale has moved from a village to a town, and there is more that remains to be done," he said, alluding to the PNP's achievements. "We know where the owners of the privately owned sugar factory stand politically, but that has nothing to do with our continuing to ensure that the sugar factory is viable and successful. But when the election is over, they will have to deal with us, and we will deal with them...in an honourable way," he said.

Cheers greeted his loaded words.

"We're the majority, we run tings."

More cheers. Louder this time.

Before leaving, he admonished the crowd to "be disciplined, don't yield to provocation, we know that the Labourites bring botheration, but be disciplined."

Then the sound system played 'My Leader Born Ya', and the Prime Minister, flanked by security personnel, returned to his van, 'booming' a few fists along the way.

It was 4:50 p.m.

The procession hit Ewarton main road at 5:11 p.m., and paused at the Devil's Race Course road at Linstead to 'boom' fists with orange-clad supporters who rushed up to greet his van. The procession hung left and sailed along the Devil's Race Course main road to honking and cheering supporters, some of whom wore masks. It created a mad carnival of sorts, and some cars parked close by attempted to join the motorcade but were held back by police.

This was the point at which the tour-turned-safari as the procession made its way along bad roads decimated by heavy rainfall. You could see where the rain had scooped up greedy handfuls of pavement from the sides closest to the shrubbery that pressed close on both sides. The smell of a nearby orange walk hung heavily in the air. Copses of trees like redwood, guango and logwood trees were close by.

At 5:53 p.m., the dark fingers of night began to fall, changing the quality of light, and the crickets began to sing their strange songs in the grass. The countryside was transformed into dark, flowing green. The cars chased their own high beams through the dust which hung like phantoms in the air. The procession had lengthened considerably, and snaked through Hampshire at 6:06 p.m., before arriving in Riversdale at 6:15 p.m.

The Prime Minister used the facilities at the Riversdale Police Station.

REPORTER: I didn't know that you had such a lovely baritone until I saw you singing 'My Way'. What was your first reaction?

A wry smile spread across Mr. Patterson's face suggesting genuine amusement. A small laugh escaped his mouth.

"The occasion was a fund-raiser in Westmoreland where I sang before I spoke. My way has been a way of peace, my way has been to try to eliminate political tribalism in this country. My way is to ensure the best electoral system, my way has been to provide a better quality of life for the people of this country," he said.

REPORTER: Have you found the safari to be a little bumpy?

"No, not really. The roads are better than they were in 1997, and you can see most portions have been dug up to facilitate the laying of pipes to get water to the public."

The Prime Minister then headed to Riversdale square. A small crowd of Labourites greeted him with bells and shouted "shower, shower!" and charmless epithets about his sexuality.

He ignored them, and when he got to the square, he was given a raucous welcome.

Mr. Patterson labelled the sitting MP, Abe Dabdoub "a temporary impostor".

"No dibby-dibby can represent the people of North Eastern St. Catherine," he said.

"We beat them in '89, '93, 97 and we going to beat dem in 2002!"

By 7 p.m., the procession pulled out of Riversdale and headed to Linstead for a mass meeting in the town's square in the last leg of the tour.