ANCHOVY, St James — Although he was on the programme as guest speaker, embattled general secretary for the People’s National Party (PNP) Dr Dayton Campbell was a no-show at a St James Sothern Constituency Conference on Sunday.

However, his colleague, Senator Peter Bunting, hastened to point out that Dr Campbell’s absence has nothing to do with recent lawsuits filed against him.

“I want to make that clear because I don’t want all the JLP FM to carry it, say because two little lawsuits spray at him, that let him shy away from coming here,” stated Bunting. “He is a hard man to die. I am going to tell you that.”

For much of the event, which was held at the Anchovy High School in St James, no reason was given for Dr Campbell’s absence. But Bunting, who was down to give greetings towards the end of the programme, had an explanation.

He said after he heard how well the party’s St James Southern constituency aspirant Nekeisha Burchell has done in recent polls, he told Dr Campbell he would represent him at the meeting while the general secretary turned his focus on other constituencies in need of his attention.

The general secretary was slapped with a defamation lawsuit by Government minister Daryl Vaz on August 4. Then, news came on August 12 that Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western James Robertson and former MP for St Ann North Western Othniel Lawrence have written to Dr Campbell seeking retractions and financial compensation or risk being sued for comments he reportedly made.

However, Bunting told Comrades they should not be overly concerned about these legal battles.

“My general secretary, who stands like a giant, can brush off all of those. Don’t worry about those little lawsuits. He is not frightened of lawsuits,” stated Bunting, who shared his personal experience of suing Cabinet members on the governing party’s side.

“When we reach arbitration, they quickly apologise to me and I can tell you, all now they have not finished paying me the money that I was awarded,” stated the senator.

“So, we are no neophytes in this thing. We understand how it goes and we understand the strategy in politics,” added Bunting.