Who Will Represent Collet at Next Elections for U.D.P?

Last week, word broke that Ian Jones was going to step aside as the U.D.P. Standard Bearer for Collet, citing that it would be the best thing for the party, and for unity, heading into an election season. This, coupled with the U.D.P. Leader, Shyne Barrow’s comments, indicating that there’s a mending of fences between himself and the Collet Area Representative, Patrick Faber, lent credence to the notion that it would be Faber’s opportunity to contest in the next general elections. But Faber wrote to the Chairman of the party just last week, bringing to his attention two specific incidents when he thought Barrow was in violation of the principles of democracy, and in one instance, even manipulative. Faber made reference to a conversation on Friday March twenty-fourth between himself and Barrow. He said that Barrow approached him and asked for his support for a proposal that he was going to take to the N.P.C. to keep the current leadership without contesting it at the U.D.P.’s national convention scheduled for August. He said that Barrow told him he would ask Jones to resign as standard bearer if he, Faber, would support the notion. Faber went on to state in his letter that “He (referring to Barrow) confided in me that he agreed that the process to disqualify my candidacy was flawed and that he was ill-advised and hoping to make it correct,”. Faber said he indicated to Barrow that he couldn’t support a resolution that did not involve a democratic process and shared his view that the U.D.P. is currently the most divided it has ever been, and that it is in times like these that the party’s democratic principles needed to be adhered to. The second scenario that Faber’s letter cites was last Wednesday, when he said that Barrow contacted him trying to coerce him into supporting his proposal. Faber wrote, and again we “On Wednesday of this week, the Party Leader contacted me and attempted to coerce me into supporting his resolution by using Mr. Jones’ resignation as leverage. He informed me that he would only cause Mr. Jones’ resignation to become effective if I agreed to support his resolution in the upcoming National Party Council meeting,”. Faber went on to express disappointment and deep concern about what he calls “undemocratic and manipulative tactics” that he accuses Barrow of employing. Faber then called on Peyrefitte as chairman to take action to ensure that Barrow adheres to the U.D.P.’s principles of democracy. Faber also urged Peyrefitte to take the necessary steps to correct the unconstitutional move to replace him as the Collet Standard Bearer. When we asked Peyrefitte about the resolution on Sunday at the Queen’s Square Convention, he said that as chairman, he has the option to not get involved in the one-on-one exchanges and that is what he has chosen to do. As far as Jones is concerned, Peyrefitte said that he remains Collet’s standard bearer for the U.D.P.

Michael Peyrefitte

Michael Peyrefitte, Chairman, U.D.P

“As a chairman of the party, Marion, I have the luxury of not getting involved in anything like that. All I know, all I know as chairman is that we have a Standard Bearer in the name of Ian Jones. That’s all I know. I have not received any resignation from Mr. Jones. I have not been informed of any resignation by Mr. Jones. So as far as I’m concerned, Mr. Jones is the standard bureau for the current division. Whatever discussions, whatever discussions took place between the party leader and the Honorable Patrick Faber, I was not privy, still not privy to, so I was not a part of that discussion. So I don’t know. And whatever they discussed, of course, politics is politics. If it turns out that one particular person believes that some other individual stands a better chance of being elected, then that’s how politics works. But I don’t know that anybody has resigned or I don’t know that anybody has been replaced or nothing like that. All we have in the secretariat is the cover of neutrality, the cover of staying in the middle. We are not involved in any of that except making sure that those who are officially recognized by the party are being promoted by the party.”