Janice Cuffie not selected

Janice Cuffie not selected

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Details: Parent Category: Nov 2011; Category: Week ending Nov 26th, 2011; Published on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:14; Hits: 892

Female activist, Janice Cuffie has failed in her bid to get the nod to become the Caretaker for the main opposition New National Party (NNP) for the St. David’s Constituency. Cuffie, a former executive with one of the island’s main telecommunication provider, had earlier in the year expressed public interest in the seat held by Agriculture Minister, Denis Lett.

However, the NNP has announced that the St. David New National Party Constituency Branch has elected, a Cuban-trained Engineer, Gabriel Henry as its Team Leader. The election took place at the Corinth Government School on November 16. No mention was made in the party release of Cuffie.

NNP insiders have confided in this newspaper that the hierarchy of the party were getting increasingly concerned about Cuffie in light of several “negative remarks” being made against her in the public domain. Recently, Cuffie was forced to cancel a grand raffle aimed at bringing in one million dollars for the sale of a house in the south of the island. She also announced a refund of all monies to persons who purchased raffle tickets.

The NNP release said that the race for Team Leader of its St David Constituency saw Henry going up against NNP Welfare Officer, Joy Mancini. “The two have been jointly leading the work of the party in the St. David Constituency for the past few months and have pledged to work unreservedly with each other for the benefit of the people of St David and the New National Party regardless of who emerged as Team Leader”, it added.

Henry as Team Leader will most likely emerge as the NNP official candidate for the general election to be held most likely in 2013. He is expected to face another newcomer for the seat since the incumbent, the ageing Denis Lett who has been sending signals to the party that he will not be seeking another term.

Speculation is rife that Medical Doctor, George Mitchell might get the nod from Congress as its next candidate in St. David’s. Henry was able to secure fifty-one of the seventy-nine votes with the remaining twenty-eight going to Mancini.

In his acceptance speech, Henry pledged to work hard for the constituency of St. David and placing the interest of the people at the forefront. He also thanked Mancini for the work done in the constituency and pledged to continue to work along with her to bring benefits to the people of St. David.

The event was attended by the NNP Political Leader and former Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, General Secretary of the Party, Roland Bhola as well as former Parliamentary Representatives for the constituency of St. David, Michael Andrew, Joslyn Whiteman, former Minister of Finance, Senator Anthony Boatswain and other members of the NNP Executive.

The NNP has been using the past few months to select its team leaders with the general elections less than two (2) years away.