Fresh off his announcement in Parliament on Monday that he has been elected leader of the new United Democratic Party (UDP), Marco City MP Greg Moss yesterday stood by C. Allen Johnson, the party's choice for chairman, after videos resurfaced on social media with Johnson demeaning a woman, using vile descriptions. Some people have questioned Moss' party's choice for chairman and also questioned the MPs' judgment in his affiliation with Johnson, as a result of Johnson's vulgar videos.
One Facebook post asks, "Does Greg Moss share the views on women as his friend and party chairman C. Allen Johnson? All women should be ashamed of these two men."
But Moss said he has not seen the videos.
"I have the greatest respect for Mr. Johnson," he said when contacted for comment. If anyone has any particular issue they want to raise, they should raise the issue and not in a happenstance or a slighted way, but just raise it in a substantive way; point to what they are talking about and I'm sure he will respond to it. As with everything that I've seen and that I know about him, I have the greatest respect for not only him as a person, but for his intellect."
Moss added, "I would think they (those who raised the issue) should direct that question to Mr. Allen. I am aware of other stuff and those other things cause me no concern, but if they have a particular concern about a particular video they should produce it."
In the videos, Johnson describes certain acts he claimed he performed on a woman, using demeaning terms. When told about this, Moss responded again that he has not seen the videos.
On Monday, Moss unveiled his party's logo, name and executive members. He said in the House of Assembly that he was elected leader of the UDP and the party will contest every seat in the next general election. He said yesterday that the criticism leveled against Johnson is predictable.
"I think what people are trying to do, predictably, is to detract attention away from the substance of what our party represents and go back into personalities and slights and scandalous talk," he said. "We are not going to be a part of that. If someone wants to wallow around in the mud, at least define what mud they want to wallow around in and then let's have a substantive response to that and then let us get back to the issues."
Moss resigned from the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in June, charging that the party had a leadership problem. He remained an independent MP before announcing the formation of the UDP. In the party's resolutions, the UDP promises to "stamp out political and governmental corruption, courageously enact and carry out laws related to crime and punishment including punishment for capital offenses, be committed to freedom of the press as a counterweight to governmental propaganda and commit national resources to the health and education of our people as a right and not as a privilege".
On his Facebook page yesterday, Johnson, who calls himself "Critical Thinker", said he hopes to have a debate of implementable 21st century ideas without the backward looking slights of the blame game. When offered a chance to respond to the matter of the videos yesterday, Johnson said he had no comment at this time.
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