Worrell ‘the DLP’s man for St John’

Democratic Labour Party Vice President Andre Worrell on Monday declared he will contest the St John constituency on the party’s ticket in the next general election.

Worrell made the statement after Reverend Guy Hewitt revealed late Sunday night that he was formally nominated by the St John branch at its annual general meeting to challenge Verla De Peiza for the party’s presidency.

Hewitt said: “I see this is a significant moment for the democratic tradition upon which our great party was founded and a step towards restoring the long and important tradition of a two-party political system that has been a guardian of Barbados’ democracy.”

But according to Worrell, the party’s spokesman for agriculture and environment, he had to respond to repeated calls expressing concern that he had been replaced by Reverend Hewitt,

“I was ratified as the candidate for St John in February,” he said, revealing that two-thirds of the St John branch did not vote for the former British High Commissioner to contest the presidency.

“At the AGM yesterday, this is possibly the first branch, the only branch where Reverend Hewitt was able to receive 10 votes.

“He [Hewitt] is not the candidate for St John, he is just nominated to run for the presidency of the party. I must also put on the record too that Verla De Peiza was also nominated by the St John Branch with the majority of the votes in yesterday’s meeting. He barely got over the threshold.”

Worrell told the Down to BrassTacks radio talk show it was clear that De Peiza was the favoured presidential candidate, as he pointed out that of the DLP’s 30 branches, more than 16 have already declared support for the current leader.

“It would be safe to say Verla De Peiza Is ahead…so far the majority of the branches, and the members of the party, even the overseas branches as well have put their support behind Verla De Peiza this includes the UK branch and the US branch as well,” the former senator said.

He suggested that Hewitt had failed to attract support because of the conduct of his presidential bid and since he has not been in the trenches working to rebuild the party after suffering its worst general election defeat in May 2018.

Worrell said: “Where most persons fell out with Bro Hewitt is the manner in which he has gone about it in terms of he is a new member of the party. He does not have that knowledge of the working organs of the party, how the elections are contested, how do you get nominated and all of those things, but yet you are still coming in at the tip to run for president and you have not really demonstrated, this is what most people have been saying, any actual evidence of you working with the party except the fact that you were a High Commissioner which was supported by the party when it was in Government.

“Now that is totally different now from the actual party which is trying to rebrand itself and reshape itself after the 2018 election defeat. So just the claim that you were a DLP High Commissioner appointed by the administration is not the same to say that you have been a rank and file member working assiduously on the ground and in the different organs of the party.

“We also had the situation where he came into dispute with the young democrats, all of these things have to taken into consideration.”

Worrell however maintained that the challenge is good for the party and De Peiza, whom he said is “coming out above and growing in the process”. (SD)