Venesha Phillips says no sabotage of PNP Papine successor

Councillor for the Papine division, Venesha Phillips, has pledged not to leverage influence among her supporters to interfere with the political ambitions of People's National Party (PNP) prospective candidate Peta-Gay Ferguson.

Phillips, who has been embroiled in a war of words with the leadership of the party for more than a year and has since withdrawn her membership, said she would not intervene in the race.

Municipal elections, which were postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak, are due in 2022, but Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that he will not go to the polls in this the 60th year of Independence.

Phillips insisted that there is no split between her supporters and Ferguson's that would put her successor at a disadvantage.

Ferguson was given the nod by the region without a runoff after her interest in candidacy was communicated to the incumbent.

“If and when I received communication from her, we will have discussions in the context of whatever issue she would raise,” Phillips said.

“I have no intention to interfere with the process,” she added.

PNP President Mark Golding and the rest of the party's hierarchy threw support behind Ferguson as the standard-bearer for the Papine division, which is in the St Andrew Eastern constituency.

Golding, in endorsing Ferguson, said that he was aware of a schism in the division but described the prospective candidate as a loyal and caring person who would stand her ground.

But while not calling names, he hinted that Ferguson was likely to face strong opposition. It is unclear whether some of that resistance might come from backers of the outgoing councillor.

“She is a real warrior. She nuh back down, she nuh easy. Mi rate her. Peta-Gay, you have my support two thousand trillion per cent,” Golding said.

“Mi say yeah, man, and mi know say she going to get a fight because it is not easy, but mi tell her to hold the fort, and I am willing to walk with her when the time come,” he declared.

He called on PNP supporters in the division to support her candidacy, especially at a time when the party is seeing growing momentum.

PNP General Secretary Dayton Campbell alluded to the split in the division between Comrades who are loyal to Phillips and supporters of Ferguson's candidacy.

Campbell called for unity at a time when the party is seeking to present a united front after a bruising three years of internal strife, including a challenge by Peter Bunting to then PNP President Peter Phillips in 2019.

Ferguson said that it is the workers and group members from the Papine division who lobbied party headquarters to endorse her run for power.

“By doing that, they indicated that they want a better way with Peta-Gay, so we deh yah and we a go stand firm because people want the best for Jamaica and a better way for the Papine division,” she said to rousing applause.

Ferguson, who said she had reached out to Phillips, has sought to project a united front. That philosophy, she said, had endeared growing support from political workers and canvassers for her ground machinery.

“For me, it's not about personality, but what we can achieve together for the benefit of the Papine division,” Ferguson added.

She continued: “Envy or disunity cannot be part of my campaign. It must and will be about the issues in Papine, and we have started to mend some of those fences.”

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com