Patrick Faber Contemplates a Second Candidacy
With the post of leadership now wide open, Former Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber who was defeated by John Saldivar on Sunday, is considering whether tossing his hat in the ring for a second time is in fact an option he wants to pursue in the weeks ahead. While he admits that time is running, the Collet Area Rep says that he will decide his mind over the course of the weekend and should have a formal response in the early part of next week. The experience of the past few days, he says, has taught him a lot about the inner dynamics of party politics.
Isani Cayetano
“Where do you stand in all of this? I would gather that you have had some time to sit down and contemplate what your next move is. I know you put your heart and soul into the convention on Sunday and while it never materialized in your favor, perhaps there’s still an opportunity for you to offer yourself once again.”
On the Phone: Patrick Faber, Area Representative, Collet
“Well I’ve said publicly and it really is my position that I will use the next few days, especially over the next few days, to do my own reflection. I will be genuine with people and say that in fact Sunday’s convention was a lesson learned for me in many respects and so I will put all the pieces together and of course I’ve been talking to all my colleagues and I’ve met with the party leader, the Right Honorable Dean Barrow as well and I have been trying to see how well I can put all of this together to determine whether or not I will put my name in the ring again. I hope to do so by early next week. I was thinking maybe Monday but it would seem that a little bit more consultation will be needed as quite a few of my colleagues have taken off. You know we’ve been involved in this campaign for a few weeks and so this is the first free and available weekend and it will be difficult to touch base with some of them, at least all of them on this weekend. So I’m looking at some point by Tuesday or Wednesday or so for making my final determination on whether or not I am going to contest.”
Isani Cayetano
“I will ask you a question and I will expect from you sir an earnest response.”
On the Phone: Patrick Faber
“You believe I have not been giving you my earnest responses so far?”
Isani Cayetano
“Yeah, you have been giving me your earnest response. but this is a particularly tough question I will ask you. Going into Sunday you were rather confident on the heels of the gala event you held the night before at the Biltmore that the vote of the delegates would have gone in your favor. When the actual count, following the election on Sunday, did not seem to be in your favor and the announcement was made that in fact your opponent had won the convention, what was your immediate feeling?”
On the Phone: Patrick Faber
“Well, there’s the feeling of disappointment, absolutely. I think that even during the day while the voting proceeded, I didn’t get a distinct impression that we were behind and that must have meant that in fact quite a few people whom I had hoped were going to vote in my favor did not. It had to mean in fact that there were some people who were disingenuous but this is what politics is, we do our best and I certainly did my best in terms of getting out to these delegates and voters in the convention and I tried my very best to persuade them that I ought to be given the chance to be the new leader of the party but ultimately, as you’ve pointed out, when the ballots were counted at the end of the day I was not the victor. And while that was very disheartening for m, it was not the end and I certainly immediately embraced those results. You saw me stand with my colleagues on the stage and immediately offered my congratulations to the victor and of course pledged my support for the party continuously so that we could unite against our common enemy which is the P.U.P., of course.”
