‘Bull Bull’ to run as independent
WESTERN BUREAU — Former People’s National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for North Trelawny, Wendell “Bull Bull” Stewart, has signalled his intention to run as an independent in the upcoming local government elections.
He is seeking to represent the Falmouth Division, the same seat the PNP refused to allow him to contest on their behalf.
“My decision to run (as an independent) comes in the wake of an article carried in the Observer recently, which quoted the party’s deputy chairman, Burchell Whiteman, as saying that I am not the party’s candidate for the Falmouth Division,” Stewart told the Observer yesterday.
“That article, was the first authentic response I have heard from the party about my application as the candidate for the division,” the former MP added.
Last November Stewart, who was dumped by the party as its candidate in the October general election, applied for selection as the local government candidate for Falmouth.
“The people want me to run, so I will be taking up the offer and I have made my intentions known to the party,” Stewart had said in a November interview.
But up to yesterday, he said, he had still not received a response from the party hierarchy.
“The party has not replied to my application. They have not told me whether I am being considered or not but I know the Observer article (that quoted Whiteman) is authentic,” Stewart argued.
Last month, the party’s deputy chairman said that Stewart was not among the party’s slate of candidates for the parish.
“Stewart is definitely out. They have been making noise down there (Falmouth) about Bull Bull Stewart but a decision has been made and he is not in,” Whiteman said then.
He noted that the party had selected Garth Wilkinson as its representative and added that Stewart was made aware of the party’s decision.
But Stewart has denied that the party had advised him of its decision not to allow him to contest the seat.
Yesterday, he was confident that he would win the Falmouth Division as an independent candidate.
“My chances of winning are very, very good. Based on what the people in the division are saying I know I will win,” Stewart said, adding that the people in the division had asked him to be their representative and he has consented.
Stewart served as a PNP MP from 1997 to 2002.