In his first public remarks following yesterday’s surprise departure from the PLP by Kennedy MP Kenyatta Gibson, party leader the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie released the following statement.
Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie released the following statement:
On the matter concerning Kenyatta Gibson, I have only three things to say:
- Firstly, I am personally disappointed that Mr. Gibson would perpetrate this kind of political treachery after I fought so mightily on his behalf to ensure his re-nomination as the standard-bearer for the PLP in Kennedy in the 2007 General Election – just eight short months ago. In this regard, it will be recalled that there was widespread and intense opposition to Mr. Gibson’s re-nomination. There is no need at this stage to re-visit the reasons why Mr. Gibson was opposed as he was. Suffice it to say that he was among the last of the PLP candidates to be nominated because of the very serious misgivings many persons in the Party and in Kennedy and in the country at large had expressed concerning his fitness for parliamentary office. I, for one, however, thought that he was deserving of a second chance, a chance to redeem himself. That he has now shown himself to be unworthy of the confidence I placed in him is naturally a personal disappointment as indeed it is a disappointment for a great many other people as well.
- Any member of Parliament, whether it be Mr. Gibson or anyone else, who seeks and obtains the support of the electorate as a candidate of a political party commits an act of political fraud on the electorate if, after winning election, he jumps ship, as it were, and disowns the party that caused him to be elected in the first place.
- Thirdly, it follows from the point that I have just made that Mr. Kenyatta Gibson, having lost his legitimacy as a member of parliament, should now do the honourable thing and resign his seat forthwith so that the people of Kennedy can be given a fresh opportunity to decide who should represent them in the House of Assembly.
