Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Simpson miller, Phillips

IT NOW seems certain that there will be no Dr Peter Phillips in the People's National Party's (PNP) shadow Cabinet to be named by Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller on Monday.

Simpson Miller was initially scheduled to announce the shadow Cabinet at a media briefing today, but in a release yesterday, the PNP said the press conference would be delayed.

Struggling

The party gave no reason for the delay, but indications are that Simpson Miller has yet to put together her team as some members of the Arise and Renew camp have backed out.

According to party sources, Phillips and his key lieutenant Maxine Henry-Wilson have indicated to Simpson Miller that they are not interested in being named to the shadow Cabinet.

PNP sources told The Gleaner that Phillips and Henry-Wilson have decided that they want to spend time in the back benches of Parliament where they will not have to toe the party line.

Mute on the matter

Yesterday Phillips, who on Monday resigned as party spokesman on national security and leader of government business in the House, refused to comment on reports that he has ruled himself out of contention.

Efforts to contact Henry-Wilson were unsuccessful, while Sharon Hay-Webster, another Phillips supporter, said she had not been asked to serve.

It is also believed that Hay-Webster and two other former spokespersons who were involved in the failed attempt to overthrow Simpson Miller - Dean Peart and Fitz Jackson - will not be named.

But Hay-Webster did not rule out being a member of the Simpson Miller team.

"It depends on what is said to me," Hay-Webster said. The Gleaner was unable to contact Peart or Jackson yesterday.

However, the PNP sources reported that Phillips backers, Dr Fenton Ferguson and Dr Wykeham McNeill, seem set to retain their place.

The sources confirmed that Simpson Miller had started to make contact with the persons she wants in her shadow Cabinet, but efforts to find out who would be in were met with a deafening silence.

Reports reaching The Gleaner suggest that Western Hanover Member of Parliament Ian Hayles is to be promoted from being a deputy to Simpson Miller to a full shadow portfolio while East Hanover MP Dr DK Duncan is also to be included in the shadow Cabinet.

Other Simpson Miller supporters, Senators Basil Waite and Mark Golding seem set to rewarded for their work on the campaign trail by being included in the shadow Cabinet.

For political commentator and Simpson Miller backer, Lambert Brown, the PNP has nothing to lose by not including Phillips and his key supporters in the new shadow Cabinet.

"The road for people is to go back to the bottom of the party, or to whatever section of the party the Leader places them and to work their way back up," Brown said.

Former PNP General Secretary and outspoken Simpson Miller supporter Donald Buchanan was also not worried at reports that some Phillips backers were indicating that they were not interested in serving.

"The People's National Party is abound with talent and there is no shortage of suitable persons within the party to fill any position which would make it the most effective and dynamic opposition in the history of the country," Buchanan said.

( L - R ) Hay-webster, Ferguson, Peart, Henry-wilson