In a clear move to avoid another serious upset, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) on Friday reserved its decision to ratify a candidate for the Freetown constituency.
Inside sources told The Journal, Noted Queens Counsel attorney Wayne Monroe had secured the nod over Public Hospitals Chairman Senator Frank Smith, but serious backlash followed forcing party officials to hold off on making any announcement in this regard.

During his address to scores of PLP supporters at the party’s headquarters on Joe Farrington Road Prime Minister Perry Christie indicated that a resolution to the Freetown nomination would be achieved shortly and without conflict.
“We have just one more (ratification) and we will undertake to engage in the pathway to resolving that particular challenge and contrary to what everyone has said, it will be resolved without conflict,” Mr. Christie said about the controversy.
“We are a democratic functioning party. We do things the right way and we always try to bring a resolution to our challenges where in the final analysis what the party does is accepted and deemed to be well done. There should be no difference in our approach with respect to Freetown. We are going to win Freetown and the candidate who is given the privilege to represent the PLP will have the burden of winning that seat for us,” Mr. Christie said.
Now after his speech, members of the media pressed the prime minister as to the when this announcement would be made, Mr. Christie however did not respond.
Mr. Christie also warned Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis Friday night that the PLP is cutting him some “slack” before waging a campaign that highlights the terrible things opposition members have said about him.
“The people who are against him are the people who was in his party,” Mr. Christie said.

“They’re the people who said never never never. They’re the people who defined him. And we are going to give him all the slack he needs right now because in his own record, what every one of them said about him, and they really ought to know him better than us and he might as well know now we are going to publish what they said about him. So start working my brother and try to find the explanations for why they said so many things about you and no matter how much the newspapers try to shine you up and brush you off, they said some things about you too,” Mr. Christie said.

Freetown aside, the party did however move ahead with the ratification of five additional candidates.
Glendon Rolle in Long Island, former Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commadore Clifford “Butch” Scavella in Central and South Eleuthera, former Senator Cheryl Bazard for St. Barnabas, Julian Russell for Central Grand Bahama and Doctor’s union president Charles Clarke for St. Anne’s.