Dear Editor,

The People’s National Party (PNP) needs to get over itself with the “Leave PNP business alone” narrative. This seems to mean that if you are not a member of the PNP you should not care or utter a word about the Lisa Hanna vs Mark Golding race for the presidency of the party.

If this were a matter of the general secretary, party chairman, or some internal role, then I would agree with them. However, the president of the party is also a public servant in the form of Opposition leader and potential prime minister. As such the average Jamaican has every right to critique, assess, and evaluate the individuals vying for such a role.

I would have loved to see a broader consensus of the PNP members being allowed in the voting process. I do not believe some 3,000 or 4,000 members are enough to safely select a leader that the public will accept; the consensus does not seem broad enough.

Matter of fact, I believe the perspectives of the delegates are so cloudy they should come second nature to the wants of the broader society.

If the Peter Phillips vs Peter Bunting debacle taught us anything it is that, no matter how staunchly a candidate is criticised by party officials, when the election comes around they all fall in line and give glowing recommendations. The people will not; I will not!

In the last internal PNP presidential election the unaffiliated public seemed to prefer the younger Peter. However, the delegates went ahead and made their choice. With the older Peter at the helm, Prime Minister Andrew Holness took their brooms and almost swept them out of the Opposition benches.

Do not tell us to leave PNP business alone because we will — right here with this internal election, at the parish council elections due next year, and the general election four years from now — be affected.

Adrean A Gentles

gentlesadrean123@gmail.com