After crushing loss, Jeffers raises doubts about NLP's viability
The National Liberal Party was left to rue a second consecutive crushing General Election defeat last night.
But party chairman Charles Jeffers, who finished at the bottom of the polls in Smith's North with 201 votes, said he felt the election had offered a glimmer of hope.
"The people were not prepared to give us a chance to play a supporting role in the governing of the Country.
"We did not have the machinery, we did not have the material and we did not have the money and these three Ms played a very important role in this election.
"But we did have one M and that one was the message.'' However the party's message -- "Let Us Be Your Voice'' -- could not be expressed because of the deficiencies in the other areas, said Mr. Jeffers.
"It's no good unless you are able to get that message out effectively to the people,'' he said.
Looking to the future, Mr. Jeffers said: "We have to have a post mortem and assess where we are. We are probably not going to do much over the next short while. We will have to see how things settle down.'' And he noted that the defeated United Bermuda Party's future would impact on that of his party.
"We will have to see how well the UBP function as an Opposition. There may be resignations... there may be people who choose to leave the politicking to others. This could lead to the watering down of the support for the party.
"Whether or not the NLP will rise to be a real alternative, time will tell.
If there is a need for another alternative, the NLP could be that alternative but I am not making any predictions or promises.'' NLP candidate Graeme Outerbridge, who collected 150 votes in Smith's South, stressed that time and support would tell.
"We will see how we do as a party. Obviously it gets harder and harder with our troops folding and our reinforcements just aren't there.'' Frances Breary, a first-time NLP candidate in the PLP stronghold of Devonshire North where she polled 61 votes said that she would be back. The fourth NLP candidate in the General Election, Edwin Armstrong, collected 59 votes.
