AN ATTEMPT to have three of four Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidates step down from seeking the St George South nomination, has apparently led to a major step in the process being postponed for at least three weeks.

BLP general secretary Dr William Duguid said yesterday that the postponement of the nomination that had been announced for 5 p.m. yesterday at St George Secondary School, was to ensure the democratic process by which candidates were selected was not compromised.

However, an inside source involved in the nomination said an attempt was made to make banker Jefferson Lashley the sole candidate.

The source told the DAILY NATION a meeting was held at the party's Roebuck Street, St Michael headquarters yesterday morning. At that meeting was the BLP's top brass as well as candidates Ian Gill, Reginald Knight, Pastor Dale Brathwaite and Lashley.

The three were reportedly asked to step down in favour of Lashley, but refused. This led to the 45-minute meeting being brought to an end and the subsequent postponement of yesterday's exercise.

Gill, a popular deejay and project manager, had reportedly been receiving major support from residents canvassed in the constituency.

Yesterday the DAILY NATION was successful in reaching two of the candidates, Pastor Dale Brathwaite and Reginald Knight, and they agreed with Duguid's explanation for the postponement.

In a media release Duguid said: "The candidates seeking the nomination have agreed at a meeting with the chairman of the party [Prime Minister Owen Arthur] to postpone the nomination, as the final list used for the nomination had not been completed, which would have ensured that all candidates had the necessary time to meet with those seeking to vote at the nomination."

This marked the second occasion in recent weeks that BLP candidates have been reportedly asked to withdraw in favour of a preferred choice.

In June, director of the Barbados Youth Service Hally Haynes and Government Senator, Sandra Husbands, were reportedly called into a meeting with the party's hierarchy and asked to withdraw from the St Michael Central nomination in favour of Government Senator Rudy Grant.

While Haynes subsequently withdrew his nomination, Husbands refused, indicating that contrary to opinions expressed elsewhere, she did not see multiple candidates as divisive. That nomination process is scheduled to be conducted this Sunday.

wadegibbons@nationnews.com