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NDP leadership candidates make peace as new memberships ruled legal
NDP leadership candidates make peace as new memberships ruled legal
The two front-runners for the B.C. NDP leadership have made peace over the issue of mass party memberships.
MLA Mike Farnworth had questioned the last-minute flood of new members deposited at party headquarters by fellow MLA Adrian Dix's campaign just before the deadline.
But the party ruled that the sign-ups were legal, and Farnworth now says he'll abide by that ruling.
"We raised our concerns, they've made a ruling, and I accept that," Farnworth told The Province.
"The rules committee is composed of people I respect, of people I've known for 20 years.
"I know that they're going to go through each of the memberships, one by one."
The membership spat is the latest controversy to plague the NDP, which had a very public split over the forced departure of leader Carole James.
A baker's dozen of 13 dissident MLAs pressured James to resign, setting in motion the current leadership campaign.
"I still believe that we can unite the caucus and our party and I still believe we can win the next election with the right leadership," Farnworth said, vowing to review the membership rules if elected leader.
"If we are to be successful, we need to demonstrate to our members and the general public that we have not only the right vision for the province -- but also the capacity to manage our own internal party affairs with respect and vigilance."
Dix welcomed the olive branch, and agreed with Farnworth that each of the six candidates will now work hard to win over all the new members, regardless of which camp signed them up.
"All of the candidates seem to have recruited a lot of people," said Dix.
"The campaign is just getting started. We'll have a membership list at some point. We're going to try to convince those members to vote for us, as are the other campaigns.
"What I want to focus on are the issues in the campaign, and taking on the Liberal government." |
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發表於 2011-1-21 07:46
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