The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

Based on the Prime Minister’s comments this week, it appears that the post-Perry Christie era within the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) will be interminably delayed.

It is clear that Mr Christie has designs on dying in office of old age and/or stress related complications.

According to Mr Christie, he intends to continue leading the governing PLP, including into the next general election, because young members of his government have urged him to do so. What’s more, he asserted that instability would arise in the party if he was no longer the leader, similar to the chaos we see occurring in the Free National Movement (FNM).

Why Mr Christie? Why?

At 72, Mr Christie is clearly punch drunk on power. Surely, he must have sozzled too many kegs of his own Kool-Aid.

Currently, to use the words of Sam Tenanhaus, the PLP has become “trapped in postures of frozen light, clenched in the rigor mortis of a defunct ideology”.

We have a Constitution that effectively makes a Prime Minister king. Given that, our only saving grace thus far is that we haven’t had an absolute lunatic sit in that seat. The powers of the Prime Minister must be curtailed. There’s no wonder that Mr Christie - in love with the pomp and pageantry, the power, the ability to make or break, the notion of being referred to as PM and Mr PM and, in some cases, Bahamians grovelling at his feet for jobs and favours - will not voluntarily leave.

Of course, not willing to silently allow Mr Christie’s frantic efforts to slyly hang on to power at all costs, Deputy Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis fired a shot, politically clapping back at Mr Christie, and rejecting the idea that the PLP would become unstable if the PM chose to step down as leader.

Mr Davis was undoubtedly rebuking Mr Christie. Unlike others, he seemingly found his voice and doesn’t appear keen for Mr Christie to remain. Frankly, Mr Christie must be politically tone deaf, given the state of the country and the fact that - if one reads the papers, listens to the talk shows and takes note of conversations in barbershops, family gatherings and elsewhere - Bahamians want to see the back of him. We thank him for his service but, it’s time to go. Mr Christie, please leave Sir!

I spoke to a current PLP MP recently. I am certain that he did not request that Mr Christie remain onboard. He is a forward thinker and one of few PLP MPs who I hold in esteem.

I need to see a show of hands of all those young members that Mr Christie is referring to? I’d also like to know how many of these young members are 45 or under.

I have been reliably informed that Marathon MP and Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald is one of the persons leading the so-called committee to retain Perry Christie. Why? Could it be for self-serving reasons? After all, we know that he already has expressed his yearning to retain his job because he enjoys sitting around the Cabinet table, right Marathon?

In the Bahamas, we have not seen smooth transitions of power from one political leader to another. The FNM is facing challenges and we will soon see the same in the PLP. Whatever happened to succession planning?

While in opposition, Mr Christie said he would consider stepping down as party leader mid-term and name a successor. However, he later said those comments were misconstrued and he intended to serve a full term if elected as Prime Minister in 2012.

In January, 2015, he said it would take a “compelling, tangible” reason for him to lead his party into the next general election. But last September, in the face of speculation that Mr Davis was eyeing a leadership run, Mr Christie declared that he would go into the PLP’s convention as leader and emerge as leader.

After several delays, the PLP’s convention is set for November of this year. The last time the PLP held a convention was in 2009, although the party’s constitution mandates that it holds a convention every year.

We are watching the start of an explosion. A rumpus is about to break out in the PLP; it is about to break out into a full blown war.

Former Minister of Education/Attorney General and ratified candidate for Fort Charlotte Alfred Sears recently stated that he is open to running for the position of leader of the PLP when the party holds its convention. He is not a political coward and has valiantly stated that, in a democratic institution, “nobody should be afraid” to say whether they intend to contest the party’s top post. I could not agree more.

As it stands, the internal friction in the PLP - including the opposition to Mr Christie remaining - has been suppressed for so long that when it actually ignites, it will explode.

The PLP pretends to have it all together but it has done a superb job at internalising and repressing conversations that, if held, would make it a far better organisation. Of course, the fact that Mr Christie serves as PM has quelled much opposition, particularly from those who seek positions and/or enjoy drinking from a very beneficial political trough. Similarly, the FNM acted in a like manner for too long and today that party is on the brink of splintering.

Any time free and open discussion is not fostered within an organisation, what you wind up with is less than ideal and negates any option for spirited, co-operative development.

Mr Christie is a walking relic. He is a leader devoid of fresh ideas - and it shows. This is said, but it is what it is.

I am hopeful of a leadership showdown in the PLP at the next convention. No doubt, the line-up will feature contenders, pretenders and a number of wannabes vying for the leadership who could not serve convincingly as effective backups to Bozo the Clown. And so, in anticipation of the back stabbing in November, some have perhaps already begun to sharpen their political knives.

As it stands, the people who will likely vie for the top post are Mr Davis, Mr Sears, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Mr Fitzgerald and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell. All are often mentioned as potential leaders of the party. The apparent front runner is Mr Sears.

Mr Sears has the intellectual capital. He is a deep thinker. There is no question that he has the intellect that qualifies him as a candidate for leadership.

I have his plan. I was impressed and pleased to see him espouse a vision for the Bahamas. I endorse that vision as I enunciated and share much of the same.

There are those detractors who will say that Mr Sears has been missing in action; that he chose to be a vehicle for the local gaming industry; that he is, in part, responsible for the setting up of number houses in every nook and cranny of our archipelago and that he must share the blame for any societal negative that might result from their legalisation. Frankly, I have thought that the local gaming industry should be regularised. However, I am disappointed with the way the issue was handled in the wake of the gaming referendum and the fact that number houses are not being taxed nearly enough.

I also feel that a national lottery should have been implemented. What’s more, I do not yet know of mechanisms in place to assist people who develop gambling addictions. That said, if Mr Sears bears any responsibility for the legalisation of the local gaming industry, so does Mr Wilchcombe, who is currently the minister with oversight and who led the charge in pushing legislation through though the public had rejected the referendum.

Mr Sears has articulated a vision which is different from the classical, 50-year-old PLP playbook. He tackles serious issues of reform and demonstrates, in his plan, a level of fluidity and a breadth of knowledge that I find refreshing. Indeed, his ideas reveal that he is one of only a few PLPs who are both progressive and liberal.

That said, he will have a rough journey to the top. He is the antithesis of what the PLP has become. There will be countless attempts to assassinate him politically. I think he is the PLP’s greatest hope and, I believe, he would attract a cross-section of voters.

Brave Davis has had most the controversy in his ministerial portfolio. Thus far, he has not demonstrated much competence given the issues arising from BAMSI, the BEC/BPL disaster, the unanswered ‘letter of intent’ questions, the Renew Bahamas controversy and so on.

I have met Mr Davis. I think he is an easy-going, straightforward chap. However, I am unconvinced that he possesses the necessary skills needed to lead the Bahamas. Referred to by some of his Cabinet colleagues as Mr Mumble, Mr Davis - I am told - does not pack the political power punch that he thinks he does. Time will certainly tell.

That said, he is well-connected, wealthy and is an experienced attorney with an impressive track record.

Obie Wilchcombe is a bombastic talker. These days, he generates about as much political excitement as a damp fire cracker. He has a little fizzle, a little spark and then he peters out and goes dark.

The Central Bank’s reports reveal that his performance at tourism can be described as ineffective. Having had the most important part of our economic survival entrusted to his stewardship, he has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Our tourism arrivals are down across the board. Cuba is opening and Mr Wilchcombe’s only response is to attract visitors by arranging a two-for-one deal with the Cuban government. Hmm.

Mr Wilchcombe has demonstrated that he talks a good game but he is unable to deliver the goods. Moreover, he has shown that he is either afraid or unwilling to challenge the leadership of his party. One can only liken such behaviour to that of the fabled mouse that roars.

Jerome Fitzgerald is politically dead on arrival. He would have been a favourite, a shoo-in in either one of the two leadership post, were it not for three words - Rubis gas leak.

Mr Fitzgerald has been trusted with significant aspects of the revamping of Bahamian society as Minister of Education. He has led a bipartisan committee to formulate a plan to overhaul our failing education system. As a former teacher, I respect that.

He has also been charged with re-introducing Freedom of Information legislation. It is ironic that his single most significant decision - or lack thereof - is a demonstration of suppression or withholding of information from a constituency at risk, the very one he represents.

No amount of political re-engineering will save him. He has a politically fatal flaw that is unforgiveable.

Additionally, the potential violation and/or use of confidential information for political gain and his past association with the City Markets fiasco makes him the PLP’s poster child for politically-damaged goods.

Mr Fitzgerald would be well advised to seek another profession ... unless he gets a crash course from Donald Trump on how to re-engineer one’s self.

Fred Mitchell is a political write-off. He is a no-hoper in any leadership race. He has lost credibility and people fear him. People fear that he is too haughty and that he does not listen. I do credit him with being a good MP.

As for the younger PLPs, will Michael Halkitis, Khaalis Rolle and all you other young and relatively young brothers please stand up (Danny Johnson, I don’t mean you though).

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