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by pltm
(PLTM) - Current District Two Representative and newly turned Member of the Opposition, Hon. Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull continues to justify his request for a ministerial post in the National Democratic Party (NDP) Government, prior to leaving the party, floating the grounds of seniority.
During a December 5 press conference, Hon. Turnbull admitted that he did ask NDP Chairman, Hon. Myron Walwyn for a ministerial post.
Hon. Turnbull, during that press conference, said that subsequent to losing his bid for the position of Deputy Chairman of the NDP to Hon. Marlon Penn during the party’s internal elections, he had a two-hour long meeting with Hon. Walwyn.
“I did ask that I be seated as a Minister within the next government,” Hon. Turnbull told journalists during the press briefing.
“There was a response that we would talk,” he said, when asked about Hon. Walwyn’s reaction to his request.
Two days later, during the official launch of the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM)—the new Ronnie Skelton-led party that he will be running with in the upcoming elections—Hon. Turnbull justified and defended this request on the grounds of seniority within the NDP.
During the December 7 launch, Hon. Turnbull told those gathered that he had become a senior member of the NDP. “And you become the senior member, isn’t the right thing for you to do to assert yourself based on what you have given to seek a higher level of service for the people?”
It should be noted that Hon. Turnbull ran for the position of Deputy Chairman and made this request for a ministerial post despite claiming that one year after joining the NDP in 2015, he had developed the view that he made a mistake in placing his trust in and joining the NDP.
On November 15, Hon. Turnbull resigned from Government through the House of Assembly, and later took up his new place on the Opposition side of the House.
