By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Wayne Munroe, QC, has been selected as the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidate for the newly named Free Town constituency, The Tribune understands.

According to sources in the party, the Candidates Committee chose Mr Munroe over Senator Frank Smith and the National General Council is expected to ratify Mr Munroe on Monday.

When contacted for comment, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts said an announcement will be made on Monday.

However, Mr Munroe told The Tribune he “heard from a few persons” that he would be representing the party, but he has not received official confirmation.

Mr Munroe was expected to be ratified by the National General Council of the PLP last month, but the nomination was postponed in view of the high-profile fight between supporters of Mr Smith and Mr Munroe, which played out at a party meeting a day earlier.

Mr Smith is a long-time PLP member, having run for the party in the Blue Hills constituency in 1997, which he lost, and having represented the now defunct St Thomas More area in Parliament from 2002 to 2012.

He lost to Richard Lightbourn in the Montagu constituency - recently renamed Free Town - in 2012. Mr Smith was appointed as a PLP senator this term and is chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).

Mr Munroe joined the PLP in 2015. In 2012, he ran unsuccessfully on the Democratic National Alliance’s ticket.

Mr Munroe said he has “respect” for Mr Smith but he is “not surprised” that he was chosen as the party’s standard-bearer.

“I am not surprised, why would I be? The committee voted for me as I understand it,” Mr Munroe told The Tribune on Wednesday.

“My colleague Mr Frank Smith engaged in the democratic process as the Progressive Liberal Party allows and then the party went through the process of making a determination. I have high regard for Mr Smith but this is a matter for us, the party had a process,” Mr Munroe said.

Last week, it was revealed that the PLP’s Montagu branch voted to nominate Mr Smith before the Candidates Committee decided to give the nomination to Mr Munroe, according to a press statement from the branch.

The PLP’s constitution says all prospective candidates must either be recommended by the constituency branch or a member in good standing.

In the event that the National General Council chooses a candidate that is different from one who is recommended by the branch, the PLP’s constitution says there “shall be a joint meeting comprised of the branch and/or affiliate member and ten members of the National General Council appointed by the national chairman in consultation with the leader and that joint committee shall amicably resolve the matter and report to the leader its findings.”

The PLP has named candidates for every constituency except Free Town.