Let’s Start With Reforming the Delegates List

Shyne Barrow

Of the total number of delegates on the voting list for Sunday’s convention, seven were no-shows. Perhaps their participation in the election process could have changed the outcome for either candidate. But the count was final and Shyne Barrow is the new party leader. His first order of business is to look at reforming the process that is used to select delegates. Following yesterday’s convention, Shyne says that various options will be considered to improve the way that delegates are chosen.

Shyne Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“I am a strong proponent of constitutional reform for the United Democratic Party and as far as the delegates list is concerned, what I believe needs to happen in the first instance is that delegates need to actually be elected whereas the practice, contrary to the contrary to the constitution has been that delegates have been appointed. You just send your delegates list into the headquarters and just… yoh ma, yoh auntie, yoh sista, yoh wife, yoh daughter, everybody. So dehn could do weh you wahn do. I don’t have a problem with family members being a part of your committee. What I do have a problem with is the constituents not participating in that election, that should not be a selection or an appointment, that should be an election. So under my leadership I will ensure that there are constituency convention to elect the delegates and I will raise the threshold because I think only ten percent has to come out. We need to raise that so that we can have true representation. Now if that doesn’t work then I would say, alright, let’s move to an expansion of the delegates list. But you can bring the delegates list to fifty, but if we don’t follow the procedure to elect them by the constituents and not the area rep appointing them, you still won’t accomplish anything cause I wahn have fifty people weh I put deh.”