PLP prepares to take North Abaco

Fri, Jul 27th 2012, 08:26 AM

Newly-ratified Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) candidate for the upcoming North Abaco by-election Renardo Curry said he has blood in his eyes as he prepares to try to bring North Abaco MP and former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's long-held seat back into the hands of the governing party.
Curry, who addressed party leaders and hundreds of other party faithful at PLP headquarters on Farrington Road last night, said with Ingraham out of the way the people of North Abaco are willing to make a change.
"I live among the people. I know their concerns after campaigning for over a year, and you would think I would be a better [representative]," he told The Nassau Guardian.
Curry, 38, will run against Greg Gomez, the Free National Movement's (FNM) ratified candidate for North Abaco, and S. Ali McIntosh, the servant leader of the Bahamas Constitution Party.
Curry said last night that Gomez is his wife's first cousin, but he will defeat him nonetheless.
While some political observers think the by-election is the first major test of the FNM and its leader, Dr. Hubert Minnis, some have said it will also test whether the governing party has lost or gained momentum, depending on the outcome.
At Sir Lynden Pindling Centre, Prime Minister and PLP Leader Perry Christie told The Guardian that Curry has made a compelling case that he can emerge victorious after losing to the former prime minister in the last general election.
"He brought a lot of people with him from the constituency who all have come down to indicate that Hubert Ingraham had a lot of personal support, and they believe on a real considered basis that that personal support is not transferable to another candidate. And so he is convinced that he will be a good candidate and at the end of it all he will be the winning candidate," said Christie.
The prime minister said that the government will put its full support behind Curry's candidacy.
"I think it's important for us to communicate to the people of Abaco that they have an opportunity for them to have their representative, in Mr. Curry, sitting around the table and being a part of the governing party and being able therefore, to represent their best interests," he said.
"So the choice will be to vote for a candidate (Curry) who will go into the political wilderness with the rest of his colleagues and [attempt to] rebuild the FNM back into a party that people could consider electing as a government.
"In the meantime, they have four years in which they could have Mr. Curry sitting around the table and making decisions which could impact their lives right now. So for me, the choice is clear."
Curry won five of the 12 polling divisions in that constituency in the last general election.
Ingraham secured his seat with 2,235 votes while Curry got 1,856 votes.
Curry, 38, said this week that the margin of his loss --379 votes -- is a reflection of his support, which he said has increased since May 7.
The North Abaco native said he thinks Abaconians are ready to return the seat to the PLP, something they have not done in 25 years.
As previously reported, a by-election must be called within 60 days after Ingraham's resignation from the House of Assembly becomes effective on August 31.
In a statement released last night, the PLP said it is committed to presenting young and energetic leadership to the Bahamian people, and Curry embodies that.
Curry was the sole applicant for the seat, according to the PLP.
"This should come as no surprise because the Prime Minister and PLP Leader Perry Christie advised the public on May 18 that Mr. Curry had indicated a preference to forego a senatorial appointment in order to put himself in a position of maximum readiness for the anticipated by-election in the North Abaco constituency," said the PLP.
"If successful at the polls, Mr. Curry will join a class of government parliamentarians that are collectively among the youngest group ever to sit in the halls of Parliament."
The PLP won 29 of the 38 seats in the House of Assembly and the FNM secured the remaining nine.
Curry said if successful as the new MP for North Abaco he would place emphasis on job creation programs through central and local government projects, which would include the establishment of a job placement program for college graduates; a technical learning institution such as BTVI on Abaco, and he also plans to support National Health Insurance.
He will return to Abaco today to continue campaigning, and expects PLP officials to join him on the ground in the coming weeks as the campaign heats up.

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