Will Delroy Be Allowed to Contest Stann Creek West?

Delroy Cuthkelvin

U.D.P. loyalist, Delroy Cuthkelvin’s intention to contest the upcoming convention in Stann Creek West, is almost dead in the water.  Cuthkelvin has worn several hats within his party including working out of the Prime Minister’s Office and as a public relations officer in the Ministry of National Security.  For the aspiring politician, his initial dream of representing the Citrus Belt was dashed in March 2014, crying foul in an allegation made against U.D.P. Chairman Alberto August and Melvin Hulse.  August, with the involvement of the former area representative, was accused of illegally putting together a voter block-out list disqualifying roughly nine hundred constituents.  Cuthkelvin and his committee then boycotted the subsequent convention in which Hulse was victorious as the U.D.P.’s choice for Stann Creek West.  After calling for party leader Dean Barrow’s intervention in the matter, that request falling on deaf ears, Cuthkelvin vanished to obscurity, reemerging only recently to declare his candidacy yet again.  In a release issued on Sunday, Cuthkelvin says that his decision to return to electoral politics comes after consulting with key committee members and organizers in Stann Creek West who, “feel that, given his political experience and dynamism, he represents the party’s best hope to regain control of the constituency in the upcoming general elections. But, the party leader is pumping the breaks on Cuthkelvin.  He says the Stann Creek West Committee will forward the names of interested persons to the party’s screening committee with the intention of rejecting Cuthkelvin’s application.  According to the prime minister, the stunt that Cuthkelvin pulled the last time, when he withdrew from the scheduled convention at the eleventh hour, has left a bitter taste in the party, as well as the constituency’s mouths. Then there is an article widely circulated in which Cuthkelvin went against the Petrocaribe Loans Act. The PM has publicly lent his support to retired educator, Walter Garbutt, who will be facing Nathan Young in the approaching convention.  The winner will challenge incumbent P.U.P. area representative Rodwell Ferguson in the next general elections.