The Anguilla United Front, which is to contest next year’s general election for the leadership of the island, held a press conference on Tuesday, June 3. It was to “put the record straight” as it relates to events leading up to, and after, the resignation of Mr Delsic Rey, who was the party’s candidate for Road North (District 5), and statements he made in an interview on Radio Anguilla on Wednesday, May 28.
Those who spoke at the press conference were Mr Evans McNiel Rogers, the Elected Representative for Valley North and Leader of the Opposition in the Anguilla House of Assembly, who delivered a prepared statement, and Mr Victor Banks, Leader of the AUF, who made general comments on a number of related matters.
As Leader of the Party, Mr Banks, replying to questions, said efforts were being made to look into the possibility of finding a replacement for Mr Rey. “The cell group is now working on that process,” he explained. “They have to determine whether or not they are going to be able to select a credible candidate for the next election; whether they have enough time to do it; or whether or not we are going to hold out on this one.
“The truth is that members of the constituency cell group, who support the Anguilla United Front, want to have a candidate. They want to have somebody to support. They are not inclined to support either Mr Baird or Mr Hanley, the candidates who are running in that area. They would like to have their own candidate. Whether or not they can achieve that, is another matter. They will [have to] come to us with a candidate and the party will either approve, or suggest, after doing a research, whether or not…this is the appropriate candidate, so we will have to go through that process again.”
Mr Banks said it was unfortunate that Mr Rey, the former Road North candidate, had fallen into misfortune and has had to resign. He stressed that in no way he had forced him into such a decision as was alleged. “We felt we were doing very well in this district and the supporters of the AUF were consolidating behind him,” Banks stated. He added that Rey was having so much support that he appeared to have been emerging as the leading candidate in the district.
Mr Rey’s resignation was in connection with certain legal issues which he had some seven years ago, while in the United States, and which he contends he had put behind him in his quest to seek political office. It is with respect to this, and other related issues, that Mr Rogers delivered the statement at the press conference referred to earlier. Mr Roger’s statement, which has not been edited by The Anguillian, is as follows:
“My colleagues have asked me to make a few short comments on behalf of the Anguilla United Front about statements made by our former colleague Delsic Rey on an interview with Keithstone Greaves last Wednesday. I was selected because I was one of the original persons to whom the fraudulent email (dated May 16th 2014) to which he made considerable reference was allegedly sent.
We do not feel it necessary to comment on the entire interview and end up in a protracted “back and forth” with Mr. Rey but we do feel it is our duty to condemn the criminal behavior of our opponents who continue to distort public opinion by the use of fictitious documents and lies in the social media.
Let me say at the outset that I am amazed that my former colleague could simply accept this document as genuine without having asked his colleagues with whom he has worked for over five years and who have supported him wholeheartedly, whether or not they actually received such a document. It is for that reason we feel that our former colleague is either very naive or extremely dishonest. I can emphatically affirm that none of my colleagues have ever seen or received that bogus email. (dated May 16th 2014)
I am grateful however, that in the earlier part of the interview with Mr. Greaves, Mr. Rey made at least three important points: 1) He said that the Party did not know anything about the matter related to his alleged conviction for insurance fraud in the United States in 2008. 2) He said that his decision to resign was his own and was not influenced by anyone in the Party. 3) He apologized for not informing his colleagues about the existence of this matter before his approval as a candidate for the Anguilla United Front in 2009.
However, I am extremely disappointed that even after having a captive audience on the radio; Mr. Rey did not use that excellent opportunity to explain what actually happened in 2008. On the contrary, he sought to portray himself as a victim of a conspiracy within the AUF. Our party gave Mr. Rey every opportunity to explain the matter which he purports is a case of stolen identity and the result of a Nigerian scam.
Most of us desperately want to believe Mr. Rey but we find too many discrepancies in his presentation. All listeners to the interview may have noticed that Mr. Rey did not resolve any of the issues relating to the main issue of his alleged conviction for insurance fraud and that was the basis of the matter in the first place. It was truly amazing how he was able to avoid answering that question and move on to talk about an email that he should have known was completely fraudulent.
Our party leader Mr. Banks acted in a fair and decisive manner as soon as this matter was brought to his attention. He invited only the candidates of the party — no other members of the Executive or Standing Committees were invited or admitted to the meeting. It was an open and frank discussion with his peers where Mr. Rey was asked to explain the situation. It was not an attempt to jump to any conclusions without giving him the benefit of presenting his side of the story. But to my mind he has not done so successfully even as we speak.
But as I said earlier I am not here to bring out inside party discussions but merely to set the record straight on the appropriate manner in which we dealt with our colleague. First of all despite the differences of opinion that every member of the AUF is entitled to, Mr. Rey went through the proper process based on our Party Constitution and was therefore selected and approved as the candidate for District 5, Road North. I recall that on that occasion there was tremendous applause for his selection. So any past differences that Mr. Rey may have been confronted with from party members are now totally irrelevant — his candidacy prevailed.
There is no denying that there were strategic concerns about Mr. Rey’s candidacy. But after our convention these were all put to rest. And in fact support for him within the AUF was consolidated. If Mr. Rey had dealt with this matter in a forthright manner within the party he would have had considerable sympathy and support even if he was eventually rejected as a candidate.
The process for selection as a candidate for election is governed by Section 6 a(ii) of the Anguilla United Front Party Constitution. That section clearly states that Constituency Representatives “Shall be determined by the Constituency Group and sent to the Convention for confirmation by the party. The selection by the constituency group shall be by a process to be determined by the Party Executive. The Convention shall have the right not to confirm a candidate, in which case the Constituency Group must select an alternative candidate for approval by a Special Convention”.
All the candidates for the AUF slate for the 2015 election were chosen in keeping with our constitution and following the prescribed procedures.
On January 19, 2014, the party held Day 1 of its Special Convention. At this convention all 7 districts presented their chosen candidates for the 2015 election. At that convention, a strategic Committee comprising representatives from each district was set up to determine whether the AUF should contest all seven seats in the next election. On February 12th 2014, the Strategic Committee met with the Executive of the AUF at the Soroptimist’s Conference Center to present the findings and recommendations for their review. The Executive accepted all the recommendations of the Strategic Committee. One key recommendation was that the AUF should contest all seven seats and that the candidates presented by the Constituency groups (Cells) on January19, 2014 should be forwarded to the Convention for confirmation.
The Special Convention was reconvened on February 16th 2014. At that convention the seven named candidates were confirmed. The candidates presented and confirmed by the Convention were Cora Richardson Hodge, District 2, Victor F. Banks District 4, Delsic Rey District 5, Curtis Richardson District 6 and Cardigan Connor District 7. The Honourale Othlyn Vanterpool, District 1, and Honourable Evans Mcniel Rogers, District 3 who were automatic choices based on our incumbency , thus completed the slate of AUF Candidates for the 2015.
It is therefore patently unfair for anyone to suggest that any single individual could determine whether or not Delsic Rey would be the Candidate for District 5. That matter was settled three months ago to a tremendous round of applause. Furthermore on the launch of our campaign on April 26th, 2014, Mr. Rey was presented along with the other candidates. It is therefore even more puzzling why Mr. Rey should be rehashing settled issues apparently as a means of diverting attention away from matters that we are all seeking to have resolved or explained to our satisfaction — and ultimately to the satisfaction of the wider Anguillian community.
We sincerely hope that Mr. Rey will prevent the need to pursue this matter any further and be assured that this statement is for the sole purpose of putting the record straight. The Anguilla United Front reserves the right to take appropriate action in preserving our image as a party of integrity and truth.”
