Faber on Opponents’ Losses in General Elections

Patrick Faber

Amid the leadership struggle facing the U.D.P., the names of two likely replacements are emerging, should Faber’s ouster at a pending recall convention be successful.  They are Chairman Michael Peyrefitte and ex-mayor Darrell Bradley.  Both have held senior positions within the party, but have failed at securing the seats they ran for in Freetown and Caribbean Shores, respectively.  But does that make them any less formidable, considering the fact that neither of them is currently under fire or caught up in controversy?  While Faber spoke briefly on Belisle’s removal at a press conference on Friday, he also positioned himself as the candidate to beat, given his record of successive victories in the past General Elections.

Patrick Faber, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“None of the elected people really want or at least there is no majority among the five parliamentarians to say that any one of those members of the house ought to be the leader of the party and so, they will seek to go outside of those who are elected.  To do that, they will have to make changes to the Senate or they will have to use one of the current senators.  As I told you, I have been reliably informed that there is a move afoot now to remove Khalid Belisle as a senator and to place Darrell Bradley there.  It is factual that of the names that have been called to take on the leadership of the party which are Darrell Bradley and Michael Peyrefitte that both of those individuals have failed at the polls before.  In terms of Bradley, he made an unsuccessful bid in Caribbean Shores and I know what people will say, the man won in the municipal elections, but the truth is that a municipal election is won completely different from a general elections.  And in the case of my colleague and friend, the chairman of the party, he made a bid, I think it was 2012 in the Freetown constituency which he lost very narrowly and then he made a second attempt to defeat, along with that mighty power, to represent the people of Port Loyola where he wasn’t successful.  So it is a tremendous gamble for anybody who is listening.  You have a party leader who has won five general elections without fail.”