Dear Editor,

On Sunday, July 13, 2008, in his bid to challenge the then party president Portia Simpson Miller, Peter Phillips, who was then a vice-president, at a constituency conference held at Harbour View Primary School, made the following statement: “In response to the demands of thousands of Comrades, at all levels of the party, and the demands of citizens across the length and breadth of Jamaica, who have asked that I accept your nomination to lead this process of renewal, my answer is a resounding ‘yes’.”

He went even further to admonish the members of the People’s National Party (PNP) for abandoning the grass root principles of founding father Norman Manley, and Michael Manley, and said that, “Now, more than ever before, the PNP needed an inspirational leader.”

He said: “We need a PNP which is united, once again, a PNP that recognises the value of the grass root workers and organisers. Time is too short, and the crisis is too great for us to fool around any longer with the old politics of division and backbiting.”

We are now in 2019 and Peter Phillips has been the leader of the PNP since March 2017. He has had two years and eight months to prove himself.

Now, more than ever, the PNP needs an inspirational leader, and it cannot be Peter Phillips.

For two years and eight months the party has lost its sense of purpose. In the month of June 2019, in the first 27 days, more than 100 Jamaicans were murdered, still the Government does not have a crime plan. Time is too short, and the crisis is too great for us to fool around any longer. And this is why I welcome the challenge from Peter Bunting and why I feel the challenge in the PNP is a breath of fresh air.

In just one stance against the extension of the state of public emergency Peter Bunting gained my respect. Respect as a man willing to stand alone in his truth. And, after how Jamaicans were treated by the state in the previous state of Public emergency, we need someone who will fight for the rights of the citizens of Jamaica.

Peter Bunting, just like Phillips, deserves a shot at leadership.

And, in as much as Phillips recognised the issues facing the PNP in 2008, so should he recognise his own failures now, and be man enough to say he has failed and step away.

The PNP does not belong to any one person, last time I checked it was still called the People’s National Party.

Michelle Bradshaw

michelleannmariebradshaw@gmail.com