The Congress of the People (COP) is boasting over 42,500 members and 50 new members, despite the public walkout and resignations of several high-profile members. The coalition partner met with some of its supporters at its Flagship House office, St Clair, yesterday, and announced a growth in its membership base at a media conference after the meeting. General secretary Clyde Weatherhead yesterday also accused those who staged the public walkouts of seeking him out weeks ago to stage a “coup” within the party.
“What has happened this week (the walkouts) is not only for the public’s consumption but is in furtherance of something that was happening months before,” he said. He said the few that resigned took advantage of the former chairman Nicole Dyer-Griffith’s walkout to ride the tide and make a public statement that was planned long before Dyer-Griffith’s exit last Sunday. Weatherhead said the walkouts were orchestrated to make people think that there was a massive exodus from the COP, but that was not true.
“In the past six days, I have received four other resignations, the three people who appeared on the television last night (Friday night), of these three only one submitted his resignation yesterday,” Weatherhead said. “The other two submitted theirs the night before and two nights before,” he said, referring to the Friday walkout by former members Joe Pires, Conrad Aleong and Richard Granger. He said two of the men had already received acknowledgment of the acceptance of their resignations from the party.
“Their coming here was not for the purpose of resigning, but for the purpose of presenting a picture of something,” Weatherhead said. Weatherhead said there was no “flood” of resignations as suggested by those leaving the party. “The membership of the party as at the beginning of this month is 42,500,” he said, adding that the five resignations were more like a trickle. “The fact is that some of those persons who resign after Sunday utilised the unfortunate event of the party chairman walking out on the party to further pre-determined goals,” he said.
“Unfortunately the chairman resigned and other people decided to piggyback on it,” he said. Weatherhead said he had also received the commitment of more new members from two constituencies.