Headlines:
| No place in PNP for presidential loser – Ashley |
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| Sunday, 24 August 2008 | |
At least one political commentator believes that there
will be serious negative repercussions in the People's National Party (PNP) no
matter the outcome of the September 20 leadership election.Political commentator Dr. Paul Ashley said the utterances of one of the contenders for the PNP's top post does not auger well for the future of the party after the poll. "Dr. Peter Phillips himself in the latest thing on radio has said that the wounds of the original campaign (back in 2006) have not healed but festered, come September 20, it will be a September to remember one way or the other. There will be a separation, a serious separation ... the loser will have to go," he said. Lingering issues from 2006 challenge 
Attorney-at-law and PNP member Delano Franklyn disagreed
with Dr. Ashley's view.Mr. Franklyn admitted that there are lingering issues following the 2006 leadership challenge but said he did not think the party is doomed. He did, however, share some of his concerns as decision day nears. "I think we should manage the campaign in a manner which transmits to the Jamaican people that we're not enemies fighting against each other internally ... this is a battle for the leader of the party, but we are one. Secondly, that we are able to do so within a programmatic platform which is very clear as to where one would wish for the party to go and thirdly, whoever loses must understand that he or she has as much to contribute to the unity of the party as the one who won," said Mr. Frankly. Both men were speaking on RJR's weekly discussion programme That's a rap, which takes an in depth look at the week's top news story. The PNP leadership contest has been fraught with accusations of mudslinging from both ‘Team PNP' the campaign team of part leader Portia Simpson-Miller's and ‘Arise and Renew', the campaign team of Dr. Peter Phillips. |