The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said the Progressive Liberal Party will not actively seek to recruit Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller and Centreville MP Reece Chipman.

“We are a big tent and our tent is open and we will conduct ourselves and do the things that we think ought to make people want to come to us and want to join us and we hope that they will see the fruits of what could happen in joining us,” Mr Davis said at a press conference yesterday. “There will be no active pursuit of them.”

Mr Miller, after frequently assaulting the Minnis administration’s legislative agenda over the past two years, resigned from the party last week. Mr Chipman resigned about two months earlier and both are now Independent MPs.

Mr Davis said Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine, another fierce critic of the administration, should decide what his own future will entail. Mr McAlpine is still a member of the FNM.

“He ought to take his own counsel and direct himself as to what his future is in that organisation,” Mr Davis said. “He may see a future in it where he will continue to be the thorn in their side. He ought to understand what is being said about him, to him and take a position as to how he sees his position and where he sees that future lying.”

FNM Chairman Carl Culmer has called on Mr McAlpine to make up his mind.

“You can’t be inside the party and be a Trojan horse,” Mr Culmer told this newspaper last week. “He needs to decide whether he will be an FNM and know how organisations work or not. Sometimes you can’t agree (with a party) but there’s a place and a way to air your disagreements. To come in the party and then blast the party, I have a problem with that.”

Mr Culmer said he “cannot respect McAlpine for what he’s doing,” comparing him unfavourably to Mr Miller.

“Vaughn had his differences but never one day tried to kill the party,” he said. “Vaughn stated his disagreements and that was it. You never saw him outside trying to degrade or belittle anyone.”