Timeline worries for PNP - Candidates worry party may have picked start with election campaign
Published:Monday | January 13, 2020 | 12:00 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Knowing fully well how an election fever could quickly go cold, several electoral hopefuls expected to run on the People’s National Party’s (PNP) ticket at the next polls have been uneasy with the party’s aggressive New Year campaign.
Yesterday, the PNP had its final session of a retreat for candidates and managers at The University of the West Indies, where, inter alia, they were let in on the party’s election strategy, new laws governing campaign financing, and also given a peek into the policies that will constitute the party’s manifesto.
However, as The Gleaner canvassed views on possible timelines for the general election, several of the candidates expressed concern about the party’s pace.
“Up to this point, I am not sure which date or period the election is going to be called. The JLP is very foxy, and you have to be watching them carefully. As a party, we cannot be caught flat-footed, but at the same time, I don’t know if we should be making such an aggressive push at this time,” a long-time PNP member of parliament told The Gleaner yesterday.
“As soon as the PNP push out, people expect money to flow, and so on, and we are not there as yet, so if we push out too hard, too early, we are just setting up ourselves, and I wanted that at least to be touched on at our meeting today.”
He did not want to be identified, fearing that his statement could be misconstrued as divisive.
Other likely candidates who attended the retreat were also apprehensive about the vigorous nature of the party’s election preparedness.
“Plan, yes, but to me, it seems as if we are not getting the timing too right given what we have seen so far. They say they are preparing for March or April, but I don’t see it,” another high-ranking member of the party said.
General secretary of the PNP, Julian Robinson, refused to declare the prospective timeline of the PNP election watchers but did give insight into the party’s guessing game.
“We have different scenarios that we are working with. February 25 will mark the four years. You look at different points in a life cycle,” said Robinson, citing Budget and voter enumeration schedules among the factors at play.
“That is why we chose an early date in January to have the retreat to get everybody in the frame of mind that you move in gears. It’s like running a long-distance race. You don’t start sprinting yet, but you get into a different level of preparation closer to the time,” argued Robinson as he defended the party’s move.