PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, CMC – Embattled former Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) premier Michael Misick says he intends running for office again even as he continues to protest his innocence of corruption charges now underway in the courts here.

“I would like to announce that I will be seeking the nomination to run for North and Middle Caicos in the upcoming elections 2016 for the PNP (Progressive National Party),” Misick said in a post on his Facebook page.

“I seek God’s blessing and favour as we continue the struggle to free our people from colonial rule and lead them into true progress and prosperity,” said Misick, 50, who resigned as premier in 2009.

Misick and other former government ministers and their associates are facing charges of conspiracy to accept bribes in public office, conspiracy to defraud and associated money laundering, brought by a special investigative team set up in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2011.

Earlier this month, a Court judge dismissed the mis-trial application made by Misick’s lawyer who had argued that the prosecution had issued daily releases which had the cumulative effect of scandalising his client, portraying him contemptuously and ultimately depriving him of the right to a fair trial that is guaranteed by the Constitution and by the Human Rights conventions.

Misick’s announcement that he is making a return to active politics, comes as the ruling party is gearing to hold its convention over the weekend.

Media reports said that although Misick has announced his intention to seek nomination to run in the constituency where he was born, he must still go through the process of being accepted unanimously by the branch and then ratified by the hierarchy of the PNP, which is led by Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing.

The North and Middle Caicos seat is currently held by Misick’s nephew, Donhue Gardiner, the Minister of Immigration and Labour, who won the seat by 11 votes in the 2012 general election.

Elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands are held every four years and must be held no later than February 2017.
The PNP holds eight seats in the House of Assembly, while the opposition People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), led by its first female leader Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, has seven seats.