PNP set to implode
Some officials of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) are fuming over the refusal of its leader, Portia Simpson Miller, to vacate the office of president, thereby paving the way for the election of a new head, who would likely be veteran parliamentarian Dr Peter Phillips.
Simpson Miller was quoted in media interviews on Thursday as saying that she will speak in the 2017-2018 Budget Debate in her capacity of Opposition Leader, on March 16, a revelation that shocked members of the PNP inner circle, some of whom believe that it would be opportune for Dr Phillips, as the heir apparent, to lead the arguments for the PNP during the annual exercise in Gordon House, the seat of the Jamaican Parliament.
Simpson Miller’s disclosure also triggered political discussions at certain locations in the Corporate Area, with arguments supporting the move for her to do her last debate, while others insisted that her time had passed.
The latest verbal offering served by Simpson Miller has brought even more to the forefront the uncertainty of the party leader’s exit, after she stated towards the end of last year that she would not seek re-election as president at the organisation’s Annual Conference in September 2017. She did not say whether or not she would demit office before September, but information emerging from within the party suggested that the change would become reality before March. She also did not say whether or not she would step down as Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Western at the same time she vacates the presidential chair.
“The officers in an informal meeting three weeks ago set a deadline of somewhere between January 20 and 26 for the official nomination exercise of the new leader to take place and for a special delegates’ conference to be held on Sunday, February 19 and have the election,” one former Cabinet minister told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.
“All plans were being put in place, some were completed, but the party leader kept not turning up to meetings and many of the Comrades got upset. People believe that the party is suffering too much, and it is leaderless,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Another PNP elected official told the Sunday Observer that a group of parliamentarians debated the idea of informing the governor general that they no longer wanted her to be leader of the Opposition, and would therefore have her replaced.
However, that would be a last resort, as the embarrassment of pushing aside such a party faithful could have devastating consequences, the official said. The official also stated that no PNP MP would participate in such an exercise, unless voting was by way of secret ballot. “A vast majority of the PNP MPs, maybe up to 80 per cent of them, would tell you that it is time for Portia to go, but none would vote by a show of hand and none would dare to lead a move to effect such a thing. All of them would even deny that they wanted her out,” the official said.
A letter was also prepared for Simpson Miller to agree, sign and clear the way for the transition, but she has still not done so, the official stated.
“One of the excuses that she has given for not finding the time to do certain things, like signing off on her departure, is that her sister died recently and she was grieving,” the official went on.
“She has avoided attending executive meetings in recent time, not that she used to attend regularly anyway, but this is proving to be too much of a distraction for the party and is contrary to the original agreement when she agreed to retire as party president,” the official said.
Party leaders are also upset with Chairman Robert “Bobby” Pickersgill for what they said was his not following through with the officers’ position and outlining their feelings to Simpson Miller that the party was “haemorrhaging”.
“Everything seems to be in limbo, and for the party to move forward and be respected again it needs to reorganise and rebuild. There is nothing called leadership in the party. The JLP has been making all kinds of mistakes and hardly anything is being said or done about it by the PNP. The president is ineffective and irrelevant and the man who is likely to succeed her, Dr Phillips, can do nothing because he has no power, no authority to act. So in the meantime, the JLP is having a ball, and who knows, they might want to capitalise on their slim majority in Parliament and call a snap election if things remain in limbo in the PNP,” he lamented.
“Even the upcoming budget debate, there is no clear party position on what is to be debated. Our party leader needs to listen to sound reason, and not the voices of that trade unionist and the woman who is involved with communication,” the official argued.
PNP General Secretary Julian Robinson declined to comment on the matter when the Sunday Observer contacted him on Thursday.
The Sunday Observer was reliably informed last night that about 20 MPs met to discuss the issue yesterday, but it was not clear if a common position was taken.
Apart from Simpson Miller, other senior party officials are expected to retire from elective politics this year, among them Pickersgill, who has suggested that he will step down as chairman and Member of Parliament for St Catherine North Western, after over 25 years of direct involvement in the political process.
Pickersgill’s exit will open the door for a potential three-way race for chairman, which could involve members of parliament Anthony Hylton and Fitz Jackson, who declared their interest last year; as well as chairman of Region Three (Corporate Area) Phillip Paulwell.
However, some veterans of the party believe that the next chairman should be MP and spokesman on national security Peter Bunting, who temporarily doused his ambition to become party president when he revealed that he would not challenge Phillips for the top post.
“Bunting should be the next chairman,” one said. “It would be a good show of party unity and would, in some measure, be used as a way to possibly groom him to succeed Phillips later on. It would be good for Phillips to support Bunting to play this role, seeing that Bunting yielded and allowed for a no-contest as far as the presidential election was concerned,” the veteran said.
Paulwell has not officially declared his intention, but the Sunday Observer can report that he has been doing his own mobilisation. He, too, is also said to be gaining “significant support”.
Information reaching the Sunday Observer also indicates that Jackson is being urged to step aside in order to facilitate Paulwell’s candidacy, and a proposal is also to be made to Hylton as well to avoid a run-off.
Veteran MPs Dr Omar Davies and Derrick Kellier are also slated to step down this year. Davies, a former minister of finance, and minister of transport, works and housing, had said he would demit office as MP for St Andrew Southern, although he did not give a specific date. He vacated the post of chairman of the constituency last year to lawyer and former Minister of Justice Mark Golding, who is widely expected to succeed Davies as MP for one of the most depressed constituencies in Jamaica, which has lacked development since the departure of its once energetic MP, Anthony Spaulding in the 1980s.
Kellier is expected to step down as MP for St James Southern, although the party has asked him to stay on so as to avoid a by-election that could strengthen the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s hand if a new PNP candidate is involved, considering the closeness of Kellier’s victory over now Mayor of Montego Bay Homer Davis which led to a magisterial recount.
The party had pencilled in the name of former Mayor of Montego Bay Glendon Harris to succeed Kellier, but his loss in the Local Government Election in the Maroon Town Division of the St James Municipal Corporation all but extinguished hopes that he had of sitting in Gordon House as the people’s choice from St James Southern.