Former Deputy Director General for Budget and Fiscal Policy in the Ministry of Finance, Dennis Cornwall, will be contesting the rural St. Patrick East seat for the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming general election.
A high-level source told THE NEW TODAY that Cornwall has agreed to challenge the incumbent, Pamela Moses, in what is seen as a major coup d’état in candidate selection for Congress in its fight to unseat the ruling New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.
He said that Cornwall was due to officially tender his resignation sometime this week from his place of employment with Grenreal Property Corporation Limited, which controls the Melville Street cruise terminal, in order to pave the way for his entry in frontline politics for the first time.
According to the source, the ex-high ranking public officer has already addressed members of the NDC St Patrick East constituency branch and has been given the approval to go forward as the candidate.
He said that the party is hopeful of capturing the seat given Cornwall’s strong family ties in the key Polling Division and NNP garrison of River Sallee where he is from, as well as Rose Hill, the other major voting precinct in the constituency.
Over the years, the NNP has been able to maintain a stranglehold on St Patrick East due to its strong following in the village of River Sallee which has the largest amount of registered voters.
The experienced Cornwall also had a 6-month stint as acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, as well as having served at one-time as Head of the Budget Division as well as Manager of the Debt Unit. Cornwall was also Manager of Research and Marketing with the Home Mortgage Bank of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in St. Kitts.
The former senior public officer is the brother of current Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mike Sylvester.
Public sector officials have credited Cornwall with playing a significant role in Sylvester’s development to reach the top job within the Ministry of Finance.
His decision to run on the Congress ticket in the elections brings to 14 the number of candidates selected by the party to contest the poll.
The only constituency without a candidate is St. George South-east held by Finance Minister Gregory Bowen.
Following is the NDC line-up of candidates for the election:-
Town of St George – Claudette Joseph
St George North-west Jonathan La Crette
St. George North-east – Ron Redhead
South St George – Andy Williams
St. David – Dickon Mitchell
St. Andrew South-east – David Andrews
St. Andrew South-west – Lennox Andrews
St. Andrew North-west – Gloria Thomas
St. Andrew North-east – Dr. Tessa St Cyr
St. Patrick West – Joseph Andall
St. Patrick East – Denis Cornwall
St. Mark – Quinc Britton
St John – Kerryne James
Carriacou & Petite Martinique – Tevin Andrews