We found the Constitutions of both the PLP and FNM on their web sites tonight and here is what is supposed to happen according to those guiding documents:
PLP
Article 17.
Parliamentary Candidates
1. (a) all candidates for lection to the House of Assembly in a General election shall be chosen by the National General Council of the Party on the recommendation of a Candidates’ Committee and ratified by the National general Convention or a Special Convention convened for that purpose.
(b) In the event of a conflict, the National general Council should consult the branches
2. Any candidate for any bye-election to the House of Assembly shall first be approved by the National general Council.
3. After a candidate is chosen all members of the Party must support the candidate.
Article 21.
Candidates’ Committee
There shall be a Candidates’ Committee composed of the Leader, Deputy Leader, the Chairman, the Secretary General and such other members as may be appointed by the National General Council.
FNM
Article 38.
The Executive Committee shall sit as and perform all the functions of a Candidates Committee and shall recommend for the approval and nomination, a candidate or slate of candidates for election to the House of Assembly. The executive Committee shall not recommend any candidate for approval of the Central Council before informing the relevant Constituency Association. All recommendations as submitted for the approval of the Central Council shall be accompanied by a written report of the views of the respective Constituency Association over the signatures of not less than two of their duly authorised officers, none of whom shall be the recommended candidate.
For the record, Article 36 states the Executive Committee of the FNM is comprised of the Party Leader, Deputy Leader, Chairman, the two Deputy Chairman, five Vice Chairmen, the Secretary General, the two Deputy Secretaries General, the Treasurer, the Deputy Treasurers, the President of the Women’s Association, the President of the Torchbearers Association, one member each of the Women’s Association and the Torchbearer’s elected from amongst their members, and ten (10) members elected by the Central Council. Members of Parliament and Senators shall be ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. The Leader, after consultation with the Executive Committee, may appoint any member of the party to be a full member of the Committee, provided the number of such appointees does not exceed six (6).
Those are the facts. Now you can decide if the process is transparent enough.
