Jack to speak on his future in TOP Tuesday

Ashworth Jack’s future as leader of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) will be announced next week, well-placed party sources have said. In a brief interview with the T&T Guardian on Wednesday, Jack also confirmed he was still meeting with members of the TOP to discuss his future.

Jack, one of the founding members of the party, suffered a humiliating 12-0 defeat to the People’s National Movement in the January 21 Tobago House of Assembly election. He told a news conference after the defeat that he would review his position as leader of the party, which is a member of the People’s Partnership Government, within 48 hours. 

More than a week later, Jack has still not made any public statement about his future as leader of the party. In the interim, there have been calls from several quarters calling for Jack to step aside, with some saying his defeat was a clear sign the Tobago electorate had rejected his leadership and he should allow someone else to lead the party forward. 

Several of Jack’s opponents have been calling for his resignation, but there have been no public calls from within the TOP. Last week, however, Tobago Development Minister Delmon Baker said there was no vacancy for the post of leader.

Party sources said a meeting of various members took place on Wednesday. They said a series of meetings were being held to get the wider party membership’s views on whether Jack should stay on as leader. 

On Wednesday, Jack broke his silence and said the various members and groups within the TOP had requested meetings with him and he had agreed. He said, however, that he did not want to make any detailed comment in the interim. He said he had already met with the executive and the TOP’s Youth Group members.

The last of those meetings is expected to take place on Monday and the TOP will hold a news conference on Tuesday, when Jack will address his political future.