By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard declined to say whether Long Island MP Adrian Gibson is likely to run on the party’s ticket in the next general election.

He said the party will continue to support Mr Gibson, who is facing several charges related to his tenure as executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation. These charges include allegations of failing to declare his interest in contracts awarded by the corporation.

“It’s no need for us to speculate on that,” he said. “Mr Gibson is a young man with a family. His family is in the midst of one of the worst possible experience any family can face and he is addressing those issues the correct way by having a team of attorneys to look at the matter that he is facing.

“So what we will do is what we have done, provide moral support to our brother as he goes through the difficult time that he has. We won’t speculate on one small aspect of his life, which is a public service.”

Mr Pintard said Mr Gibson has encountered difficulty registering his wife as his spouse and his child as his own, though he did not provide further details. He said the matter has weighed on Mr Gibson.

“I in particular encourage the attorney general to look into the matter,” he added.

Mr Pintard also revealed during a press conference yesterday that a training session for the second cohort of candidate hopefuls has begun.

Mr Pintard said by the end of this session, over 100 people would have signed up and completed the modules.

“You will see over the course of the next several weeks, some of those persons who are not facing any fierce competition will be able to resolve where they are; in some cases, two or three, because in many of the constituencies we have five, six, seven persons vying but we will be able to resolve some of those and in an official way we’ll be rolling out those candidates shortly,” he said.

He said most elected FNMs had completed their session. He said the remaining MPs are participating in the current session.

FNM chairman Dr Duane Sands previously said incumbent parliamentarians are not guaranteed a nomination in the next general election.