Rising Tension in the PNP … Member Injured

As the internal race for the presidency of the 81 year old PNP a political party has gotten nasty there is infighting that has gotten physical. In a 14 page letter former General Secretary of the PNP Comrade Paul Burke wrote to his wife PNP’s Dr. Angela Brown Burke MP for the constituency known as South West St. Andrew held formerly by Portia Simpson Miller for 34 years. Accusing her of betrayal of trust. A copy of the letter was sent to the PNP Secretariat. “This is the worst political decision I have seen in my political career” asserts Paul Burke in his letter.

Disingenuous… House Divided?

He accused her of being “disingenuous” by misleading him as it relates to her support for Peter Bunting. He said she told him that she was staying neutral on the presidential race. Dr. Brown Burke did publicly state that she was consulting with her constituents before making a decision as to whom she would support for the presidency in the leadership race within the PNP. Is this a house divided over the internal presidential race within the (PNP) People’s National Party?

Intimidation

There are reports that delegates are being pressured to vote for a “certain” Peter. This is a serious allegation and could negatively threaten the democratic process. Some unknown delegates have publicly stated that they will not be “intimidated” by these alleged threats.

NEC

The powerful National Executive Council (NEC) of the PNP held its regular meeting on Saturday and Sunday on the Campus of the University of the West Indies. It was noisy and violet. Members attacked each other and at least one member was injured leading to bloodshed. This was confirmed by party chairman Fitz Jackson MP for a Portmore constituency. Jackson is also Opposition Spokesman on National Security. Jackson declared that the injuries were not serious. The injured was not a NEC member and was evicted from the meeting.

NWU

The National Workers’ Union (NWU) president Granville Ballantine was accused at the NEC of ‘padding” the voters’ list as an affiliate body. KD Knight said the list produced by the NWU was flawed.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is a veteran journalist and has been keenly watching Jamaican politics for over 50 years. He is also SIC for Vision Newspaper Canada.