“It just does not look good:” Reaction to Appadurai’s disqualification

Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon says BC New Democratic Party is not very democratic at all. And he says he’s appalled at how it was handled.

“I say this as the father of two young girls. The way she has been treated by this party is absolutely appalling. We’ve all known the fix is in. We’ve been saying this as a party for weeks. It’s how they did it that I find very instructive about the kind of leader David Eby is going to be. It wasn’t enough to say ‘You can’t run,’ they had to go and smear her reputation by accusing her of fraudulent behaviour.”

Trent Derrick has been a strong NDP supporter, even running federally. And he supported Appadurai and admits to being surprised by the move.

“I think an important part of any democracy is having discussion and battling and discussing ideas,” he says. “And I think this has shut is down. And it’s going to have long-term repercussions.”

Derrick agrees with Chris Beach in that there could have been better ways to handle the situation.

“I think it should have gone to the members,” says Derrick. “Release the reports and let her defend herself, openly and transparently. At this point in time, it’s going to be very difficult to get new ideas and fresh ideas to the table.”

He says many of the members that Appadurai signed up were old members of the party who were frustrated with the status quo.

After a leadership election was set for December, the BC NDP has announced David Eby will be declared party leader tomorrow less than 12 hours after his only competition was ousted.

by Cheryl Jahn

“It just does not look good:” Reaction to Appadurai’s disqualification

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