Vasca Brown Wants His Seat Back: Battle for Hopewell Division heats up

No. 51 Monday, February 08, 2010
Whenever the date of the next Local Government Election is announced, former Mayor of Lucea Vasca Brown, who lost his Hopewell Division seat to the PNP Derrick Foster in the 2007 Local Government Election, will be aiming to bounce back and reclaim the seat.

    However, this might not be as easy as he feels, if Brown is to once again be the party standard bearer he will first have to get past not only Foster, but other internal challenges for the position. One name that is been bandied around is that of former, Councilor and member of Parliament Barrington Gray who the Western Mirror was reliably informed was been pushed by factions in the Division to run at the council level which will inturn enable him to make another run at the Member of Parliament position that is constitutionally due to come in play by 2012.
    Gray, who has a large family base in the division, was councilor from 1998 to 2003. He has never lost the Hopewell division in any
election since then and even though he lost to Dr. DK. Duncan in 2007 he won the Hopewell division by nearly six hundred votes. This is what JLP insiders are reportedly banking on to wrest back control of the council and by large the Hanover Parish council. "If we play our cards right we can win both the Division and council," one person who was opposed to Brown's return informed the Western Mirror. "We can't win with Vasca," he said sarcastically, pointing to the fact that the JLP lost the division in December 2007 after winning it by nearly six hundred votes three months before.
    On the other side of the coin, Vasca Brown is said to have the support of the majority of the party workers and the issues have to be dealt with in a professional manner. It is further understood that attempts are being made to persuade Brown to move across to the Chester Castle Division where he is originally from to face off with the PNP Wynter McIntosh, but Brown has stood his ground. "I will be going back to represent the people in the Hopewell Division and not Chester Castle I have been asked by the workers and I will not forsake them," a confident brown said when asked why he was defeated in the last election losing what was considered a safe seat he responded" internal affairs" without elaborating any further. 
   Brown promised to whip Foster in the next election stating that Foster campaigns on a lot of promises that he has now broken, "the people will vote for me because of the high level of representation that I have given and also my achievements that I made in the past" he also alleged that Foster was missing in action "Foster is allowing other persons to run the division," Brown further alleged, but he too is being accused by members of his party as been a absentee Caretaker Councilor with his
visibility not being as high as it once was.
    Collin Murray a powerful member of the JLP National Executive and long standing member of the Divisional executive, told the Western Mirror that while he was not supporting any challenge that could lead to disunity the position is clear that Brown will move to the Chester Castle Division and allow Barrington Gray to run "We have asked Mr Gray to run the seat and he has accepted" Murray who is said to wield considerable influence in the division said.
    He too stated that Foster has passed his time and cannot evaluate him because it is other persons who are doing the job for him. "The division needs job creation, there are too many idly youths in the area.
    Murray, from reports received, is also being considered as a potential candidate. When asked about this he said "my position is clear that we are following the will of the people and if they call I will certainly answer," obviously not ruling out a run for the Division.
    Attempts to get a comment from Gray proved futile. Will the race to face Foster lead to a run off! Vasca Brown is not afraid of that fight "I welcome any challenge in any runoff
because it is the democratic right of anyone to challenge, but I am confident that at the end of the day I will be victorious. What is needed is unity as the end word at the conclusion."
    Who will line up to face Foster come game time? As it now stands it can be anyone.