Pryce taking Kern release in stride
Published:Thursday | March 27, 2014 | 12:00 AM
NORTH EAST St Elizabeth Member of Parliament Raymond Pryce has indicated that the favourable court ruling for his predecessor, Kern Spencer, will not cause him to overstride in the constituency.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Pryce said that in politics, he takes each day as it comes.
Spencer, after being elected to represent North East St Elizabeth in 2007, left Parliament under a cloud after he was charged with corruption and money laundering for his role in the implementation of the Cuban light bulb programme.
He did not face the voters in the 2011 general election as he was replaced as the People's National Party's standard bearer in the constituency by Pryce.
Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey on Monday upheld a no-case submission, ruling that Spencer and his co-accused, Collen Wright, had no case to answer.
"I am happy for the Spencer family," Pryce told The Gleaner, even as some constituents greeted the ruling as an opportunity for them to get better representation with Spencer as their MP again.
"With respect to what happens tomorrow, what happens down the road, my experience has been to focus on long-term trajectory. But you have to live in the moment, and operate in the now. You cannot be too invested in year five or year 10 or year 15," Pryce said.
The first-time MP, who was catapulted into the seat on the eve of the December 2011 election after the constituency rejected proposed candidate Basil Waite, said he was focused on implanting several projects, funding for which Parliament will be asked to approve in the Budget to be laid next week.
Pryce stressed that he has no animosity towards Spencer, who he noted lives in the constituency.