by Linda Straker
Political leader of the New National Party, Dr Keith Mitchell has confirmed that Terrence Forrester’s decision to not accept that the party will not appoint him as the new caretaker for the St George’s South constituency, has resulted in him getting removed from the 2 boards on which he represented the government.
“He is a policy maker, and as chairman of a board, that is what he is, so he is expected to implement the policies of the government, but he decides he does not want [anything] to do with the government’s decision or the party decision. Now if that is the case, how do you expect him to continue? As far as I am concerned the minute he opposed, he should have done the nicest thing and tendered his resignation,” Dr Mitchell told reporters on Tuesday, during the question and answers segment of the weekly post-cabinet briefing.
Forrester represented the government on 2 statutory boards and was never appointed as a diplomat since the NNP returned to office in 2013.
Explaining further, Dr Mitchell said that Forrester had expressed his willingness to become the caretaker and eventual candidate for the NNP in the upcoming general election which is due no later than mid-2018, but the structure of the Party resulted in another person getting selected. That decision was not accepted by Forrester.
“The executive has chosen a caretaker for the constituency, and if that is the case all of us have to abide by the directive of the party. We may not agree with it, but we have to abide by it,” said Dr Mitchell who admitted that there are decisions the executive of the party have taken that he did not agree with, but abided by the decision.
Though he has not shared details publicly, Forrester has confirmed that he will be contesting the upcoming general election ‘most likely’ as an independent candidate. He has given the assurance that he will be calling a news conference in the coming days to explain his decision to run as an independent and at the same time share the reasons for his departure from the NNP.
Forrester is a former Public Relations Officer from the NNP and has been associated with the party since its formation in 1984.
Mr Forrester has taken a decision that to him is satisfying and this of course is part of his fundamental rights as provided for in the country’s 1973 drafted constitution. From 1984 to 2017, three decades and a three years with the NNP. These are all changes that to us mark the passage of time.