The PNP is in deep pain: From
forge some kind of consensus that can place the party on a sure footing of healing and anchoring in its core principles. This is not an easy task — as he has been finding out.
Is he really the man for the job? Time will tell, but I have some optimism that he will be able to make some headway if he remains firm and does not become naïve in the face of the personalities he has to deal with.
Then there is Peter Bunting, defeated Member of Parliament candidate for Manchester Central. There is no doubt that he is still quietly perturbed at the beating he received from the assumed political neophyte, Rhoda May Crawford. I say assumed for respect is due to her for how she ran her campaign as a political veteran, which paid off handsomely for her.
Notwithstanding this defeat, it must be said that Bunting cannot be written off as a failed politician. He still has a significant contribution to make to Jamaican politics and I can see him bouncing back with some vigour at a later date. But this is a time for introspection as he takes account of where he is in his own personal life and that of the party which I know he loves.
Golding, his friend and business colleague, has tried to resurrect him by wanting him in the Senate as the Leader of Government Business, but there is a problem. This brings us to another actor in the unfolding drama of PNP politics: Norman Horne. He was nominated to the Senate by former party leader Peter Phillips, but he declined to be sworn in citing that he wanted the new president to have a free hand in choosing his slate of candidates for the Upper House. But it has now emerged that he did not rescind his appointment, so Bunting cannot move forward. It has also been further revealed that the party owes him money and this seems to have muddied the waters as to whether he will be willing to step aside or continue the battle. There is also the further suggestion that Horne is a United States