Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
MEMBERS OF the People's National Party (PNP) National Executive Council (NEC) are gearing up for what is expected to be an interesting meeting on Sunday, December 4.
The NEC meeting, the last for the year, was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, November 27, but was pushed back because PNP president P.J. Patterson would be overseas.
PRIME MINISTERS MEETING
PNP chairman Bobby Pickersgill told The Gleaner yesterday that Mr. Patterson would be in Malta on November 27, attending a meeting of Commonwealth prime ministers.
The December NEC meeting is to be held in Kingston at the University of the West Indies, Mr. Pickersgill confirmed.
In September, during the PNP's annual conference, Mr. Patterson announced that he would demit office to allow his successor to lead the party into Gordon House for the reading of the 2006/2007 Budget next April.
It is, therefore, widely expected that next month's NEC meeting is to assume a particular significance not seen in the past 10 years.
"I believe on that day we will receive the party leader's exact departure date," said a PNP insider, who predicted it would be sometime in February.
"He (Patterson) would need to give his successor time to acclimatise to the position of prime Minister," the PNP insider added.
