PRESS RELEASE
June 30, 2014
For Immediate release (049)
From the Office of the Chairman, Darron B. Cash
The FNM sets preliminary plans for a 2015 convention. It keeps options open but preparations will begin!
Meanwhile, Lies and distortions about ‘hell raising’ at the Council Meeting are dispelled while the spirited debate regarding convention is acknowledged.
The writer of the story in today’s Tribune’s entitled “Anger at FNM Council Meeting over death threat revelations” received intentionally misleading information from her source and she should seriously consider abandoning that discredited source. The journalist in question has emerged as a sound reporter but in this instance she was not sufficiently discerning to conclude that her source was intentionally conveying erroneous information for the purpose of misleading her and the public about what transpired in the FNM’s Central Council meeting.
It is patently false to even suggest that the issue of the threats against FNMs was a major subject at last week’s meeting. Moreover, there were certainly no ‘tempers flaring’ on this subject. The source who suggested that a Deputy Chairman “raised hell” could not have been at the same meeting that this Party Chairman presided over. Therefore, it is worth repeating that anyone who has suggested otherwise ought to be cut off as a credible source.
Specifically on the matter of the threat letter, while Party officers have legitimate reasons to disagree with this Chairman’s handling of the matter, they have taken some degree of comfort in the knowledge that the Party Leader immediately referred the matter to the Police for necessary action given the Police’s considerable investigative powers. (More on the Police’s response at a later date).
Not surprisingly the Tribune’s mischievous source neglected to advise the reporter of the true-true news that arose in the Council Meeting.
The FNM Central Council had a spirited but mature debate about the ideal date for staging a national convention. All sides of the issue were given an opportunity to speak and all sides presented their arguments with passion. Despite the distortions and outright lies being told by persons seeking to sew division within the Party, FNM supporters all around the country can feel secure in the knowledge that the members of the Council, the body with the highest authority outside of convention, conducted themselves with the highest degree of maturity, candor and mutual respect. Frederick McAlpine was singled out in the press, and as Chairman of the Party I want the record to reflect that Mr. McAlpine was indeed a spirited and active participant in the meeting. While others disagreed with his position—and many did—he conducted himself to the highest standard—with dignity and respect, as did all participants in the debate. His voice will always be welcomed in Council.
At the conclusion of the debate, the Central Council voted UNANIMOUSLY to direct the Party’s Executive Committee to ready the FNM for a national convention in early 2015.
—End—
