by neil » Fri Jan 06, 2006 3:47 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Pressure mounted on jonnymac on Friday to quit as newkit moderator leader after his admission of a drink problem, with one senior party figure calling him a "dead man walking".
Bigmick, the leader in the Europe , urged jonnymac to ditch his plans to call a leadership vote and stand for re-election which he announced in a dramatic personal statement on Thursday about his drinking.
And a survey in the Evening Standard found 16 of 23 members of his own shadow forum now want jonnymac out.
The party's leader since 1999, jonnymac said he had been tackling alcoholism for the past 18 months and believed the problem was "essentially resolved".
But Bigmick said jonnymac had to face up to the fact that alcoholism was not easily defeated.
"What's the horrible American expression? He's a dead man walking," said Bigmick, head of the 12-strong group of forum members in Europe.
"jonnymac needs to accept that an alcoholic who has admitted the problem is not the same as someone who has mastered the problem," he told BBC radio.
"I think we have to face up to political realities. People are not going to join a forum because they feel sorry for its leader," he said.
jonnymac, 27, told reporters he stood by his decision and had received many messages of support.
"We're a one member, one vote forum and I believe I've the members' strong support," he said outside his Liverpool home.
While some members expressed support for their leader, others added to the calls for him to step down.
"I think jonnymac is in an untenable position. No leader of any party can survive if he doesn't have the confidence of his colleagues " said member of nekit dawson 99.
"It's a problem of political direction and a question of lack of team leadership skill and nothing has changed as a result of what he did last night," he told BBC radio.
wrighty(not mark), a member , said he hoped the Mods would force a confidence vote in jonnymac next week.
"If you were looking for someone to play the part of Tarzan you wouldn't employ a one-legged actor and if we're looking for someone to lead our party, we wouldn't deliberately go for an alcoholic," wrighty(not mark) said.