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Former PNP candidate Vando Palmer lashes Peter, Portia
Monday, July 21, 2008
VANDO Palmer, who was withdrawn at the 11th hour as a candidate of the People's National Party (PNP) in the September 2007 elections, last week lashed Peter Phillips after his announcement that he would contest the presidency of the party.
Palmer, out of the limelight since personal difficulties forced him off the PNP ticket for the Central Manchester seat, also criticised Simpson Miller, the PNP president and Opposition leader, in a letter responding to the Observer's editorial last Tuesday.
But Palmer reserved his harshest words for Phillips, the senior PNP vice president, saying he was "bright but lazy" and casting disdain on his personal deportment, much of which the newspaper cannot publish because of poor taste.
"He has a mind that is reflective and can extend itself to new frontiers if he applies it. However, he does not look Prime Ministerial and does not come across as someone who cares for those whom he represents," said Palmer, who noted that he had sat in weekly meetings with Phillips at the National Works Agency/ Ministry of Transport and Works.
"If you are a party animal, then the timing of this challenge is truly off. If you are not, then a challenge within the constitutional provisions of the party at anytime is spot on," he added.
On Simpson Miller, Palmer said that as a communication advisor to her, he had advised the PNP leader to call the elections within three months of taking office, based on her unprecedented approval rating "at well over 72 per cent" and when "she had the majority of Jamaicans eating out of her hands".
"The big question to be asked (perhaps it would make good reading if a bright political scientist at the UWI seeks the answer) is 'How did she squander such tremendous political capital?' For it was indeed tremendous," he wrote.
Palmer described Simpson Miller's peeve that Phillips broke PNP tradition by challenging a sitting president as "neither here nor there" and "errant nonsense".
He said delegates had invested in Simpson Miller after P J Patterson because they saw her as the change that Jamaica needed but that she misunderstood the mandate that they gave her.
"Instead, she pandered to the whims and fancies of the 'Drumblair group', who never see her as a true leader who has a place in the intelligentsia. She was too weak to take strong and tough decisions. She was too afraid of her shadow and instead of leading from the front, cower and let others make decisions for her. This weakness was never seen in Michael or PJ. They were decisive," said Palmer.
"...It's going to be difficult to heal the wounds. I know she tried, but again, the Drumblair group wanted no such unity of purpose until they achieve their goal of placing Peter at the helm.
"They are now handing Bruce Golding a golden gift. If I were in his shoes, despite the polls showing a dead heat, I would grasp it with both hands, call the election and give the PNP enough time in Opposition to cleanse themselves, wheel and come again, like the JLP did after Seaga was ousted," said Palmer.
Monday, July 21, 2008
VANDO Palmer, who was withdrawn at the 11th hour as a candidate of the People's National Party (PNP) in the September 2007 elections, last week lashed Peter Phillips after his announcement that he would contest the presidency of the party.
Palmer, out of the limelight since personal difficulties forced him off the PNP ticket for the Central Manchester seat, also criticised Simpson Miller, the PNP president and Opposition leader, in a letter responding to the Observer's editorial last Tuesday.
But Palmer reserved his harshest words for Phillips, the senior PNP vice president, saying he was "bright but lazy" and casting disdain on his personal deportment, much of which the newspaper cannot publish because of poor taste.
"He has a mind that is reflective and can extend itself to new frontiers if he applies it. However, he does not look Prime Ministerial and does not come across as someone who cares for those whom he represents," said Palmer, who noted that he had sat in weekly meetings with Phillips at the National Works Agency/ Ministry of Transport and Works.
"If you are a party animal, then the timing of this challenge is truly off. If you are not, then a challenge within the constitutional provisions of the party at anytime is spot on," he added.
On Simpson Miller, Palmer said that as a communication advisor to her, he had advised the PNP leader to call the elections within three months of taking office, based on her unprecedented approval rating "at well over 72 per cent" and when "she had the majority of Jamaicans eating out of her hands".
"The big question to be asked (perhaps it would make good reading if a bright political scientist at the UWI seeks the answer) is 'How did she squander such tremendous political capital?' For it was indeed tremendous," he wrote.
Palmer described Simpson Miller's peeve that Phillips broke PNP tradition by challenging a sitting president as "neither here nor there" and "errant nonsense".
He said delegates had invested in Simpson Miller after P J Patterson because they saw her as the change that Jamaica needed but that she misunderstood the mandate that they gave her.
"Instead, she pandered to the whims and fancies of the 'Drumblair group', who never see her as a true leader who has a place in the intelligentsia. She was too weak to take strong and tough decisions. She was too afraid of her shadow and instead of leading from the front, cower and let others make decisions for her. This weakness was never seen in Michael or PJ. They were decisive," said Palmer.
"...It's going to be difficult to heal the wounds. I know she tried, but again, the Drumblair group wanted no such unity of purpose until they achieve their goal of placing Peter at the helm.
"They are now handing Bruce Golding a golden gift. If I were in his shoes, despite the polls showing a dead heat, I would grasp it with both hands, call the election and give the PNP enough time in Opposition to cleanse themselves, wheel and come again, like the JLP did after Seaga was ousted," said Palmer.