PNP announces aspiring candidate for Hanover Eastern constituency
Published:Tuesday | January 9, 2024 | 12:09 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A new aspirant to represent the People’s National Party (PNP) in Hanover Eastern has been presented to members of that constituency executive by the party.
The Gleaner has learnt that a hurriedly called meeting of the constituency executive was held on Thursday January 4 at Bethel Primary School in Hopewell, Hanover, at the request of the party executive, at which the new aspirant was named by General Secretary Dayton Campbell.
“The short notice for the meeting caused several executive members to be absent, but we had a quorum, and the meeting was held,” one executive member told The Gleaner.
“Party General Secretary Dayton Campbell was present and used the occasion to introduce Ms Andrea Purkiss as the newest aspirant that will be going through the necessary processes within the party, with a view to becoming the party’s representative in the constituency when the next general election is called,” the individual stated.
The meeting was told that Purkiss, a tourism executive from the district of Cascade in the Hanover Eastern constituency, was chosen over Andria Dehaney-Grant, the sitting councillor for the Sandy Bay division and Deputy Mayor of Lucea, after a party poll done within the constituency showed Purkiss as being slightly more favoured for the post.
REJECTION
The need for an individual to lead the party machinery in that constituency has arisen as the last aspirant, who held that position in that constituency for several months, Craig Oates, was eventually rejected by the party in November 2023.
The rejection letter sent to Oates in November stated that he did not meet the criteria set out by the party for its constituency leadership aspirants, and also that polls carried out by the party in that constituency were not showing favourable results for him.
“The executive of the party has decided that your aspiration to become the party’s standard bearer is regrettably at an end,” the letter read.
While there is still some amount of disquiet among the constituency executive about the rejection of Oates, some of them have expressed to The Gleaner that they are willing to work with the party’s choice with a view towards winning the next general election, and in the interest of residents within the constituency.
“The fact that she is from the parish makes a lot of difference for me, and I am willing to do what is necessary to see that we win this seat when the next general election is called,” one executive member told The Gleaner.
“I am upset how Mr Oates was treated, and I was not prepared to work with any outsider from this parish, but this lady is a Hanoverian, and so I will give her a chance,” another stated.
“I was not at the meeting as the notice time was too sudden for me, but I have heard of the announcement, and I am just waiting to see the next move from the party and this woman. Remember that she has to go through the same processes that Mr Oates went through, so I am waiting to hear the results,” another said.
Information is that the regular constituency executive meeting is due on Thursday, January 18, and it is left to be seen and heard if Purkiss will be able to convince the full membership of that grouping to give her their support over the next few months.
The Gleaner was reliably informed that Purkiss and the constituency caretaker for Hanover Western, Heatha Miller-Bennett, along with the seven divisional caretakers for the PNP within Hanover, will be presented to the public on Sunday, January 21, at a meeting scheduled to be held by the party at Rusea’s High School in the parish capital, Lucea.