By Shermain Bique-Charles
Kelvin ‘Shugy’ Simon has spoken out about the shock he felt upon learning that his friend and once political ally had switched allegiances and would be running against him in the upcoming by-election.
The UPP’s candidate for St Mary’s South will go head to head within weeks against Dwayne George, who will represent the ABLP.
George played an important role in Simon’s successful general election campaign and they apparently shared a close bond that Simon referred to as a brotherhood.
However, Simon told Observer yesterday of a sense of betrayal after news broke that George would now be his political opponent.
“I spoke to him the night before the announcement was made. I heard that it was going to happen and I didn’t want to discuss it over the phone. I wanted to have a face-to-face, man-to-man, chest-to-chest conversation with him,” Simon said.
“He told me whenever he has time, he would let me know…I saw him the next morning and expressed the same sentiments that I wanted to see him…He said he would link me and then the next day I heard the breaking news,” Simon said.
He said George’s actions had shocked him as George had apparently not given any indication that he was planning to sever ties with the opposition party.
“There was no indication…he did not tell anybody. There were a lot of people in the branch that respected him including myself. We all feel hurt, disappointed, and betrayed. It’s shady and not a move of character and not a move any leader would want to have attached to them. It is a bad way to start,” Simon added.
Later this year, a by-election will take place in the St Mary’s South constituency. Simon secured the seat in the general election on January 18 by defeating ABLP incumbent Samantha Marshall, but he later resigned amid legal challenges.
Last week, Marshall wrote to the ABLP stating that she would be withdrawing her candidacy due to the needs of her young family. Shortly after, the ABLP announced that George, a former UPP member, would be taking her place.
Simon expressed his belief that selecting a candidate from the UPP instead of choosing a dedicated ABLP supporter to replace Marshall was an illogical decision.
“I saw this is desperation because in recent times we hear the ABLP and Prime Minister Gaston Browne ridicule the UPP for scraping the bottom in the barrels…I am wondering if they don’t have any more supermarkets to shop in because they keep coming to the UPP,” Simon said.
“They knew Samantha did not have a chance to win the by-election, so they pulled her out which I found to be a very weak political move…we did our polls and it wasn’t looking good for her,” he added.
George had been trained by the UPP to serve as the representative of the constituency for several years. However, as of last Thursday, he is the new caretaker for the ruling Labour Party.
He admitted last week that the reaction from die-hard UPP supporters had been “alarming”.
“They won’t just accept my switch,” George said, adding that his family had been very supportive of the move.
George said he hopes voters will see that electing him as MP would be the most beneficial decision for the area. He revealed that he had had a meeting with Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Marshall a few months ago, which ultimately influenced his choice to run for the position under the ABLP banner.
“We had a series of meetings and as you know the Honourable Gaston Browne is a man that recognises talent and he knows when there is something good going for somebody and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to seize the moment, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to seize the moment as well,” George previously explained.
The hopeful MP is confident that his diverse experience, which ranges from politics to bodybuilding and teaching, will allow him to enhance the infrastructure, social programmes, and general quality of life for residents of St Mary’s South.
