PUP aspirant says candidacy unfairly disallowed
It is rare that an incumbent representative is defeated in a party convention, but that doesn’t stop aspiring politicians from trying. Today one disgruntled candidate in the Port Loyola division went public with charges that he was unfairly disqualified from running. Joseph Bradley Jr. says that PUP Secretary General, Carlos Espat called him last week to tell him to take down his banners and stop campaigning.
Joseph Bradley Jr., Political Aspirant
“I was outspoken about many of the problems in Port Loyola, basically housing and the dilapidated infrastructural programmes that are being put in place. Before me there was actually two persons that wanted to run in the area and both decided somehow not to run, either by intimidation or disqualification as well. I made the people aware back here of the truth of what’s going on. The people were upset and dissatisfied with the type of representation that they had and subsequently I was gaining a lot of momentum, a lot of support. Basically the people in the area were behind me and I feel that the area representative wanted to hold on to power. She obviously saw that she couldn’t hold on to power in a convention, therefore she fought me, I believe, internally in the party.”
“They tried to cut some deals and tried to allow me to subside in the background, but that’s not what I’m about. I’m about the people first and not putting partisan issues in front of that. The people of Port Loyola are obviously very upset and they need adequate representation. I live in the Port Loyola constituency, therefore I know what’s happening in this area.”
Bradley says he has resigned from the PUP, but will continue his activism and asks voters to rally behind the best candidate in Port Loyola. News 5 tried repeatedly to contact PUP Secretary General Carlos Espat to find out exactly what the criteria are for seeking a nomination, but he has yet to return our phone calls. Reporter Ann-Marie Williams is herself no stranger to the electoral process as she herself was defeated in a 1998 bid for the Port Loyola nomination of the United Democratic Party.
