Wesley Labourites want Grant

As far as supporters of the Dominica Labour party (DLP) in the area are concerned, Wesley remains "no woman's land".

Firstly, their preferred candidate Gloria "Teacher Glo" Shillingford has indicated that she will not be the candidate for the party at the upcoming general elections constitutionally due in May 2015.

Secondly, supporters of Wesley have rejected Shillingford's replacement, Canada-based Athenia Benjamin. The constituency association has gone public saying, in no uncertain terms, that "we don't want Athenia Benjamin. We want Fidel Grant and we have dispatched a letter to the executive of the DLP to that effect."

Well, the matter remains unresolved weeks after the letter was dispatched and chairman of the DLP Wesley branch, Cleveland Dodds, told the SUN that the branch is awaiting a response from the DLP executive and the members are "playing it cool."

"We (are keeping) cool on the matter for a little while. They promise to give us word, so we are waiting. They have not given us a deadline but we are waiting for their response. We going to wait on them, we are going to stay loyal to that," he said.

Dodds, however, remains firm that Wesley Labourites were not going to accept Benjamin as a candidate of the DLP.

"We are adamant that Athenia Benjamin cannot and will not go up for election on a DLP ticket. We will not accept her at all…if she wants to go up independent she can but I know that on a Labour Party ticket we are not prepared to accept her at all…I say no; that cannot happen," Dodds stated.

When asked if Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit decides that Benjamin was the choice of the party, what the party's supporters in Wesley would do, Dobbs laughed out loud.

"I will not answer that; that is a secret. We have an oath and won't disclose our plan as it relates to that. We have not broken ties with the DLP and have no intentions of breaking ties with them, they have just done something that is unacceptable to us. We will solve that matter soon and we will talk to you in due time about it," he said.

Meantime, another member of the DLP Wesley association branch supported Dodds' comments and added that among those pushing for Benjamin to be the candidate was Reginald Severin.

"He is from Woodford Hill and is close to the PM and is pushing his agenda. They are trying their best but we, the people, are firm; we don't want Benjamin, our choice is Fidel Grant," he said.