The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party’s Marco City Branch is “happy” that area representative Greg Moss resigned from the party, adding that he was not the group’s first choice for a candidate.

Branch chairman Kevin Ferguson said the group accepted Mr Moss because he had been endorsed by Prime Minister Perry Christie, but branch members likely would have picked another candidate if they had the choice.

The branch has come to terms with Mr Moss’ resignation from the party and is now searching for potential candidates to run against him in the area.

Branch members attended a special meeting at the PLP’s headquarters in Freeport on Wednesday evening to discuss the way forward.

“I had high hopes for Mr Moss, he disappointed me, but that’s life,” Mr Ferguson said when contacted for comment on Thursday.

Mr Moss quit the party on June 8, citing leadership issues at both the party and executive level. His resignation took effect the next day.

Mr Ferguson said that the branch would never have chosen Mr Moss as the PLP’s candidate for Marco City.

“They (branch members) did not see him as a good candidate, they just saw him as the candidate that the party sent to them. He was not their choice and he had to be sold to them, and they bought into him because the prime minister had endorsed his candidacy – that’s what it was.

“But if they had to choose him out of a number of other candidates he would not be the one they would have chosen,” Mr Moss said, explaining that these were the feelings expressed at Wednesday’s meeting.

“They are happy he resigned because… they felt that he had lost touch with the party. We will have to now look for candidates for the area,” Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Moss has already relocated his constituency office from the original location he initially occupied during his campaign. He believes that he can win as an independent candidate for Marco City in the next general election.

Mr Ferguson said that Marco City has many grassroot constituents with strong political ties to the party, and he feels that Mr Moss might have a better chance as in independent in Central Grand Bahama.

“Even though he came from humble beginnings, it is felt that he is not really for the small man,” Mr Ferguson added.

He believes that Mr Moss made a mistake and went about things the wrong way.

“He is very intelligent and has some good qualities, but he lacks political maturity; he has made himself a sacrificial lamb for what he believed in and that approach was wrong for a young politician that had some things to offer. He has sacrificed his political career and I don’t know where he would be able to run and win.”

“The only constituency I think he stands a chance is the one he should have been put in the first place, in Central Grand Bahama where there is little grassroots people.”

The PLP lost a second MP this week. Dr Andre Rollins announced his resignation from the party on Wednesday. Mr Moss, Dr Rollins and Bamboo Town Renward Wells were all endorsed by Mr Christie as the bridge to the future before the last general election.

This week, Mr Wells admitted that he has contemplated resigning from the PLP, and would run in the upcoming election with or without a nomination from the party.