Dear Editor,

The young Turks have made the first move in the People’s National Party’s (PNP) war of succession over the weekend, and since then the bloodletting seems to be constant.

It all started Saturday with a post by Patrick Roberts openly endorsing Julian Robinson for Prime Minister in 2020, a not so subtle hint that both he and potentially Julian are about to go all in with the leadership contest. 

More was to follow, on Sunday the news papers were awash with PNP related stories. All were critical of the PNP hierarchy, all called the campaign a shambles and they all called for root and branch reform. 

What made these pieces all the more interesting is that they came from PNP-friendly people and PNP stalwarts, never a good sign when stalwarts become critical or jump ship like Mr A J Nicholson.

However, the young Turks don’t seem to have it all sorted out. Phillip Paulwell still controls the delegates and, as of Tuesday, at least two other ‘Turks’ have emerged in Peter Bunting and Lisa Hannah.

This is politically dangerous, for both the young Turks and the party as a whole. Any division amongst the young Turks will be exploited by an old guard that knows how to play the game. The young Turks must know that they are viewed as an insurgency by the old guard and that they will go through hell and back to ruin you politically if you pose a threat.

Again I say the only hope the Turks have is to rally around someone, they must put aside personal ambition for the greater good. This is bigger than the PNP, a functioning opposition results in balanced governance, while a fractured or non-existent opposition spells doom and despotism.

Julian, Lisa, Damion, Raymond and Bunting need to sit down and chart a course. Some form of agreement is needed between the emerging warring factions, if not the PNP is doomed to a long period of insignificance and internal strife.

Alexander Scott