Gordon Robinson notes that there is war and rumours of war in Portland.
THERE’S TROUBLE brewing in the East. JLP seems to have targeted some ‘safe’ PNP constituencies for political overthrow and is employing shrewd strategies to that end. In the past, ‘safe’ constituencies were usually surrendered by the other party with weak candidates and half-hearted campaigning. This time, the JLP seems intent on giving no quarter regardless of geography or candidate.
It began with Daryl Vaz, who was sent to West Portland in 2007 to recapture what was a JLP enclave for the legendary Leopold Lynch, who won six consecutive general elections there from 1944. Before 1989, when that great man of the people, Errol ‘Jiggs’ Ennis, defeated St Clair Shirley, the JLP had only once lost Western Portland, and that was in the 1976 elections shamefully called during a state of emergency. Jiggs won three elections in a row, increasing his majority each time before retiring in 2007, thus giving the JLP a window of opportunity firmly grabbed by Vaz and then shut and bolted against any possible PNP re-entry.
Now, the JLP has deployed party heavyweight Ruel Reid to North West St Ann, a constituency the PNP has won eight times to the JLP’s three, signalling it perceives an exploitable weakness. Back home in Portland, Daryl Vaz’s better nine-tenths, Ann-Marie Vaz, is declared to run in PNP bastion East Portland which, save for Ken Jones (1955 and 1962) and Anthony Abrahams (1980), has never voted JLP.
Apparently finally spotting the rake, the PNP retaliated by sending political neophyte, but highly respected attorney-at-law Valerie Neita-Robertson to challenge Daryl Vaz in Portland West. Clearly, as they say, it’s ON!
It’s in that context that I read an alarming thread on Twitter from Valerie:
“Every event I host in my constituency is followed by violent events days after. I’m raising a lot of questions as to how the series of events have been playing out. As a criminal lawyer, I’m spotting a lot of dots that connect too seamlessly. I have learnt over my years as a lawyer there’s no such thing as a coincidence.
“Some weeks ago, I had a very big meeting in Orange Bay, Portland, and, days after, a prominent PNP family was gunned down killing a pregnant woman (seven months pregnant). Police information received by me stated that on the morning of the family’s grave digging, they found six men in a house from Tivoli in Orange Bay who had no explanation as to why they were there. These men were escorted to the border and asked not to return.
“On the night of my very successful domino tournament which brought out many members of the community, there was a drive-by shooting injuring people by my office in the constituency. Members of the community expressed their concerns to me, as they stated events like this never occurred till now.
“Last week, I visited a community called the Diamond, which I posted on my Instagram page. I met a young lady who was joyful having never seen a politician come and express their concern for her community. She stated that she would be voting for me and voiced this openly. This young lady had four children and was
murdered by masked gunmen on Sunday night.”
“Now, as I said, I’m seeing too many of these situations, and as a criminal lawyer I’m trained to spot these PATTERNS. I hope this situation isn’t what I think it is. Updates will be coming soon.
“My condolences to this young lady’s family.”
Valerie Neita-Robertson is, as she says, a lawyer. Because I’ve known her for her entire career and before, I can add that she’s a lawyer of much talent, high-class skill, integrity, and experience. Based on my sources’ reports to me and what I’ve seen for myself, she has approached the political arena in a rational, calm, helpful, almost non-partisan way. So, you’ll notice that her thread made no allegation against anyone. It merely stated easily verifiable facts, including that some information came from the police. She expressed concern.
If I was a journalist (which I’m not), I’d be on the phone to the Portland police with at least an initial focus to learn if these alleged shootings actually occurred. Instead, one media house, apparently focused on debunking one aspect of Valerie’s tweet, namely the hint