Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
Turks and Caicos, January 26, 2025 – All three political parties – the PDM, the PNP and the PDA – claim to have been ready for the challenge of a live streamed debate, yet the face off has been cancelled.
Show host and local businessman, Drexwell Seymour informed on Thursday January 23 that the debate would not take place because one of the political parties did not respond favourably to the idea.
The notice said: National Elections Debate CANCELLED due to no response from one of the political parties.
It was posted two days ago by Seymour. Since then, there has been an eruption of explanations, accusations and according to the host of the
Drexwell Seymour Show, insults.
“I would still love to have the debate, but after my integrity and morals have been attacked, it does not sit well with me. People need to tell the truth. Don’t use me as a scapegoat.”
According to Seymour, the truth is he sent out invitations to only two political parties initially. On January 9th the invitations were sent to the national chairmans of each major party, he told the TCI Sun newspaper. On January 10th, only the PNP had responded in the affirmative, he now only needed the PDM to confirm that it would participate.
“I received a response from the PNP chairperson on January 10 agreeing to the debate provided they meet with the PDM to discuss the format. After I did not hear from the PDM chairperson, I WhatsApp him on January 10th to tell him to check his email as I sent him an email. There was no response. On Saturday January 11, I sent another WhatsApp message to the chairperson showing the contents of the email I sent on January 9. There was no response.”
This is when Seymour tried another method, he said, before outrightly cancelling the debate.
“I informed the public on January 16th, hoping there will be a response. Still no response from the PDM. However, the leader of the PDA reminded me that his party is a registered political party and so I immediately sent an invitation to him, and he responded and agreed to participate in the debate.”
It meant the debate was to now feature all three registered political parties once the PDM confirmed, but according to the host of the Drexwell Seymour Show, that still did not happen. The PNP cried shame.
“We regret that this is the outcome as we anticipated the opportunity to engage in a robust exchange of ideas and demonstrate to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands our commitment to transparency and accountability. It is unfortunate that the other major party chose not to participate,” informed a statement from the Progressive National Party (PNP).
The PDM claims otherwise.
“The Hon. Edwin Astwood, Leader of the PDM, personally spoke with the organizer of the event, expressing his enthusiasm to engage in a debate with the Premier and his colleagues. This false claim by the PNP, combined with the organizer’s statements lacking clarity on which
political party declined to participate in the debates, leaves us with no option but to question the transparency and integrity of the process through which these debates were Organized,” said a statement from the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).
But Seymour, who has been hosting his show for well over two years now said he had nothing to gain by offering an imbalanced platform. “I will not set up any political party or politician. It is not my character. What do I have to gain by setting up any political party? I am not a member of the PNP party. I have been apolitical and very objective in my weekly writings. I am not like some individuals who only see party colours. My objective is to get the truth out and that is why I write and that is why I wanted to have the debate.”
There are just under two weeks before the national poll. In Seymour’s mind, a national debate could still happen.
“The thing is, after I made the announcement of the cancellation, it is obvious many people wanted a debate, and this has put a lot of pressure on the political parties and many people wanted to know which party did not respond,” he also said, “If anyone wants to have a debate, they can still have a debate. It does not have to be a Drexwell Seymour Show.”
Seymour had planned to host the debates on January 23 and 24. The Turks and Caicos Islands general election is set for Friday February 7.