Dear Editor,

First, I’d like to congratulate Peter Phillips on being re-elected president of the People’s National Party (PNP). Both Phillips and Peter Bunting are quite capable; it is a pity one has to lose.

But the good news is that both men belong to the same party. That being said, I was not happy with the way the PNP leadership contest was conducted. As a matter of fact, I was very disappointed. Things were said on both sides which shouldn’t have been said. And, as a result, a lot of hard feelings still linger on. What is so unfortunate, it seems, is that some of Phillips’s fraction is still harbouring a grudge because they think the challenge shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

It was Bunting’s right!

If their slogan is ‘One PNP’, why did they not want a challenge?

To have any chance of forming the next Government they need to be all driving on the same cylinder. And they will certainly need Bunting’s support to accomplish this. Like it or not, when a candidate gets 49 per cent of the vote he’s a force to be reckoned with.

And where’s Portia Simpson Miller and P J Patterson in all of this? These guys are former prime ministers, leaders, and elder statesmen of the party. Why wasn’t Portia at the conference? What kind of message is being sent. Even though I applaud their neutrality, it is not enough to just sit by and allow the fragmentation of their party. The PNP, and by extension the people of Jamaica, have been kind to both of you. In the interest of the party, both of you should have stepped in and told Messrs Phillips and Bunting to cut it out and run a decent campaign and the party wouldn’t be where its at right now.

In the final analysis unity is the key. The country is crying out for a better type of leadership where crime and corruption is kept under control. Adequate water for all and fair judicial system among other things.

And to Bunting’s supporters who pledge not to support Phillips they should get over it and move on. The delegates have spoken, it was close, there’s nothing for them to be mad about. Bunting is a decade younger than Phillips, his time will come again for him to fulfil his aspiration of being the party leader.

Noel Mitchell

Westchester, New York, USA

nlmworld@yahoo.com