The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribumedia.net

FORMER Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe suggested yesterday he had reservations about Senator Fred Mitchell’s victory in the Progressive Liberal Party’s chairmanship race on Wednesday night.

However, he said, his issues in this regard would not be aired in public, but within the constraints of an internal party meeting.

Mr Mitchell received 627 votes, while Mr Wilchcombe got 419 and former Long Island election candidate Glendon Rolle received 261.

Former Senator Robyn Lynes was elected deputy chairman.

“There are many reasons why Mitchell won,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “But these will be discussed within the confines of the party. I won’t talk about them publicly.”

He was asked if he believed his comments earlier this week may have led to his defeat for the post.

On Monday, the former West End and Bimini MP said he believed he would be a better fit for chairman compared with Senator Mitchell because he can bring a more temperate approach to how the party deals with matters.

Speaking on the sidelines of the PLP’s first day of convention sessions, Mr Wilchcombe said there was a distinctive difference between himself and the former Fox Hill MP, saying he never left the opposition party and has always held true to the party’s ideals.

At the time, he was asked to give his views of the chairman race in view of the announcement over the weekend that Mr Mitchell was offering himself to run for the post.

On Monday, Mr Wilchcombe said: “I think there is a distinctive difference between Fred and I. I never left the PLP. I have always been a PLP. I have always held to the PLP and its ideals.

“Mitchell is a colleague of mine and at the end of the day I do respect Mitchell and what the PLP requires. Right now it needs a person like myself who can make a difference in the organisation, bring (a temperate) approach to how we deal with issues, bring a balanced argument to the situation and bring vision. I’m a planner and a person prepared to roll up my sleeves and get to work on a daily basis as opposed to others who may wish to do it part time.

“I (would be) a full time national chairman,” he said.