The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER PLP Senator and MP Philip Galanis yesterday stressed that Prime Minister Perry Christie’s leadership must be tested at the party’s November convention if it hopes to secure a victory at the election polls.

Disputing Mr Christie’s assertion that a leadership challenge at the upcoming convention would be “majorly divisive,” Mr Galanis declared that the 72-year-old prime minister had placed the “proverbial political gun” to his own head when he said his 2012 election campaign would be his last.

Mr Galanis told The Tribune that whoever emerges as leader will have the daunting task of culling non-performing, and in some cases senior, MPs who feel they are entitled to renomination regardless of merit. He stressed that if the party did not make the right changes, it would lose the next election.

He said a leadership challenge was critical if the party wanted to hold Mr Christie accountable for his management style over the last three years.

“I fully support a challenge to Christie,” Mr Galanis said. “We want the best person to lead the party in the next election, and the only way to confirm that is for the leader to be tested.”

He added: “A lot of people are disillusioned and disappointed in the way the government has been managed. A challenge would require the leader to address the issues that the delegates will put to him. If not, it’s not likely that the very important issues we need to address will be addressed in a clear and coherent manner.

“It has to be discussed. If we continue on the trajectory we have been on for the last three years, we are bound to lose the next general elections.”

Yesterday, Mr Galanis explained that the party did not win the 2012 general election by a majority, and as such, could not reasonably expect that it had gained popularity since then.

“If anything we’ve lost ground and we will garner less seats,” he said. “We have to be honest about who we are and what needs to be done. There has to be a bold determination to get rid of the ones that are not best suited for the job.

“This is not about friendships, this is about finding the best suitable persons to provide services in the interests of the country. We need to recognise that this is bigger than individuals – the future of the party and the country is bigger than individuals.

“If we go with the existing slate we will lose, if we don’t make changes we will lose.”

“It’s important to recognise that there is no divine right to leadership. Some people in the PLP believe they are entitled to certain office. No one is entitled to anything, only to hold the office of which you are elected and then, at the end of your term, to provide an accounting for your stewardship.”

Mr Christie declared last Thursday that he will go into the November convention as leader and emerge as leader.

He told supporters on Sunday that the party might be embroiled in a “divisive race” at its convention instead of focusing on the important issues of crime and unemployment, adding that several members of his Cabinet have asked him to stay on as leader.

Mr Christie also said he will not allow anyone to put a “proverbial political gun” to his head telling him when to demit his post.

Mr Galanis has publicly voiced his support for Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis to run for the party’s top post, and maintained that position yesterday. The former Cabinet minister pointed out that when he and current Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage challenged Mr Christie for leadership of the party in 1997, the party emerged unified and went on to win the 2002 general election. He said he saw only a positive outcome from a leadership challenge because it was this type of race that brought out the best in people.

Mr Galanis insisted that a leadership contest would only be divisive if the agents and supporters of the candidates created that environment, adding that it was up to leader-hopefuls to “temper their agents for an orderly flow” at convention.

“If anybody is putting the gun to his (Christie’s) head, he is,” Mr Galanis said yesterday.

“He is the one that said he would go three years into this term initially, then he recanted from that and then said this 2012 campaign would be his last. He’s changed his mind, which he has a right to do, but just as it’s his right to change his mind, it’s anybody’s right to challenge him.”

Mr Galanis’ statements echo those of former PLP Cabinet minister George Smith, who told The Tribune this week that leader hopefuls should see Mr Christie’s intention to stay at the helm of the party as an invitation to challenge him rather than a threat to cease and desist.

Mr Smith said the party’s biggest challenge will be finding a slate of candidates who would collectively address the multitude of problems facing the nation.