SECRECY BEHIND APPEAL OF LIBERAL CANDIDATE'S NOMINATION UNSETTLING
OSOYOOS TIMES-February 18, 2009
Last Thursday marked the one-year countdown point leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
It also marked the three-month countdown point for the provincial election.
As it stands right now, no provincial political party has a candidate selected for the new Boundary-Similkameen electoral district (the riding Osoyoos belongs to) except for the Liberals.
And their candidate's nomination is being appealed.
The party has confirmed that an appeal is underway but won't say why, who started it or when it could wrap up.
Party business is party business.
But the secrecy surrounding the appeal process, especially when the rumour mill has gone into full production about why the appeal is underway, hurts everyone.
First off, it suggests a lack of transparency for the party.
More importantly, however, the scarcity of real information and the wealth of rumours challenges the credibility of the candidate, who may just be the target of a sour grapes campaign.
It also raises questions about whether the other nominees who lost out might be up to something shady behind the scenes.
In the end, without some answers, the rumours gain weight and validity.
Sometimes not commenting at all looks worse than saying 'no comment.'
