Home  News Regional News Simpson Miller fortifies party presidency
|
Simpson Miller fortifies party presidency |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, 12 October 2008 |
After two tough challenges and two slight wins for the presidency of the People’s National Party (PNP), Portia Simpson Miller is seeking to lock in her presidency and ward off anymore challenges for the near future.
First up, the PNP president has named a shadow cabinet with her key supporters holding most of the top positions and her two-time challenger Dr. Peter Phillips’ supporters out of the limelight.
In a recent Regional Executive Council meeting in Clarendon a local news paper reported PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill suggesting that an amendment to the constitution might be what is needed to prevent the post being challenged each year. "I think we now need to look at giving security of tenure to that office," Pickersgill said.
If such an amendment is passed, Simpson Miller would have more security knowing that her tenure will be protected under the constitution.
Coming out of the September 20 elections, Simpson Miller already had three supporters of the four elected vice-presidents in Angella Brown-Burke, Derrick Kellier and Noel Arscott.
Vice-president Dr Fenton Ferguson, a Phillips supporter, is the odd man out. Wykeham McNeil another Phillips devotee also remained in the cabinet.
Other loyal supporters include long-serving chairman Robert Pickersgill and general secretary Peter Bunting, a PNP rising star. Maxine Henry Wilson, an ardent Phillips supporter who resigned as the party’s deputy chairman will be replaced by Anthony Hylton.
Bolstering her hold as party president, Simpson Miller brought back another devotee Philip Paulwell, whose blunders and involvement in scandals have often cast a shadow on the party.
Simpson Miller emphasized that the Shadow Cabinet provided a well thought out combination of youth and experience which fell in line with her mandate to revive the party and prepare younger members to take the reins.
|
|
|
|
