By CANDIA DAMES ~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:
Whether the Progressive Liberal Party will run a candidate in the Elizabeth by-election is a matter the party will decide at a later date, PLP chairman Bradley Roberts said yesterday, adding that the party does not now have a great deal of funds to invest in such a process.
The by-election will come as a result of the resignation of current MP Malcolm Adderley from the House of Assembly. Adderley also resigned from the Progressive Liberal Party on Saturday.
"We have a process in our party that we will be obliged to follow and in going through that process, a determination will be made and recommendations will be brought to the National General Council of the party who will make the final determination," he said.
Despite reports from party insiders, Roberts also said he was not aware of any plan that was afoot to expel Adderley from the party.
Some political pundits have described Adderley's resignation on Saturday as a preemptive strike. According to party insiders, the PLP was getting ready to expel him.
Roberts said yesterday, "If that is so, I have no knowledge of that whatsoever. Nothing has come to my attention in that regard. Some remarks I made recently may have caused the matter to come to a head."
Last week, the PLP chairman predicted that the matter would reach conclusion soon.
Asked if he is confident the party would win the seat should it contest it, Roberts said yesterday, "Personally, Bradley Roberts is a very optimistic person and at this time in the history of our Bahamas with the economy being in the state that it is in, the amount of suffering that has been going on, it is not an unknown quantity that there are things that take place that the Free National Movement are experts at doing and that will obviously play a very, very strong and influential part in the outcome of the election. In other words, people generally vote nowadays in the interest of their bellies as opposed to the interest of what is true and what is right.
"It means then, in my opinion, that the outcome will be determined by who invests the greatest amount of funds in the process."
Following the 2007 general election, PLP leader Perry Christie said one of the main reasons the Free National Movement won was that it outspent the Progressive Liberal Party. It is widely known that the PLP emerged from that election financially strapped.
Roberts said yesterday that several PLPs — including attorneys Ryan Pinder and Craig Butler — have expressed an interest in running on the party's ticket in Elizabeth.
Adderley, a former acting Supreme Court justice, is expected to become a judge following his departure from the House. His resignation takes effect at the end of the day on Wednesday.
Asked why the PLP leadership did not take action against Adderley, Roberts said that is a question that would have to be asked of the chairman who served before him.
He said since he has been chairman, "We've had other things that we've been preoccupied with and Malcolm was certainly not a priority in this chairman's estimation. I had personally written off Malcolm Adderley a long time ago."
In a statement issued yesterday, the FNM said it respects the personal decision made by Adderley to sever his political affiliation with the opposition.
"Such a decision is not lightly made and obviously must reflect a deeply thought-out, personal determination on his part," the statement said.
"The Free National Movement does not have the benefit of knowing the inmost reasons behind Mr. Adderley's resignation from the PLP. However, one has only to read and consider the vilification and bile which was spewed in the hysterical PLP press response to venture a guess as to why Mr. Adderley, and perhaps others, may no longer want to be associated with what that organization has become under the leadership of Perry Christie and Bradley Roberts."
The party also thanked Adderley for agreeing to continue to serve as chairman of the Gaming Board after the 2007 general elections.
"We understand that Mr. Adderley is willing to continue in the service of his country as a justice of the Supreme Court, a position for which he is well qualified, especially at a time when there is urgent need for qualified Bahamian judges willing to serve," the statement said. "If that is so, we highly commend him. We note that he has previously served in this position in an acting capacity while his political persuasion was well known."
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