The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Progressive Liberal Party will be holding a convention this year in order to elect a substantive leader, deputy leader and chairman.

The MP for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador, Philip “Brave” Davis, is the interim leader. Bradley Roberts is chairman.

The latter has stated that he will not seek re-election for the chairmanship post. It is a given that Davis desires to be the substantive PLP leader. That is a post he has coveted, even during the tenure of former PLP Leader Perry Christie.

Christie’s position as leader of that party was nothing short of impregnable, as the thumping of Alfred Sears in the PLP leadership contest this past January at convention aptly demonstrated.

Well over 1,250 stalwart councillors voted in favour of Christie, while Sears got just under 170 votes. I believe Davis has refused to pile on criticism for his former leader in order to pander to the 1,200 plus stalwart councillors who are still loyal to Christie.

In order to achieve his goal of becoming leader, he mustn’t anger this important voting bloc.

If Davis becomes the substantive leader of the PLP, he would be one election win away from achieving his ultimate goal – becoming prime minister.

With The Bahamas still being steeped in an anti-Christie mood, Davis runs the risk of further angering the Bahamian people who overwhelmingly rejected Christie on May 10 when he panders to the rabid PLP base.

It is a very sensitive balancing act he is currently engaged in. I hope the Davis faction of the PLP recognises that their path to victory at convention will not be a cakewalk.

That is because Davis might be facing a formidable challenger in Senator Fred Mitchell.

The actions of Mitchell over the past two months are glaring indications that he intends to run for the PLP top post. Mitchell also wants to be prime minister.

Davis giving him a Senate seat has afforded Mitchell a influential platform he otherwise would not have. Mitchell has travelled to Exuma, Long Island, Grand Bahama, Bermuda and Florida over the past several weeks. He has spoken to many PLP operatives during his stops to the aforementioned Family Islands. He has also been very active on his Facebook pages Bahamas uncensored and Fred Mitchell-Minute By Minute. The latter is his way of keeping in contact with average PLPs.

Mitchell uses his Facebook forums to launch incessant attacks against the Free National Movement, some of which are downright petty. Mitchell has also been visible in the media. This is his shrewd way of remaining relevant.

He is evidently consolidating his base within the PLP. He is more articulate than Davis. He can speak extemporaneously. He has also pandered to the rabid PLP base by refusing to publicly criticise Christie.

Like Davis, Mitchell is determined not to anger the 1,200 plus stalwart councillors who supported Christie in January. Frankly, the only two advantages Davis has over Mitchell is funding and position.

As the interim PLP leader, this must be seen as a head start for Davis. But with many PLPs already expressing deep dissatisfaction in Davis’ performance thus far, Mitchell becoming PLP leader isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Mitchell perhaps senses this deep discontent within the party. That may explain his subtle leadership campaign.

Mitchell knows that Davis is in a very vulnerable dilemma. He knows Davis is no way near as invincible as Christie. He knows that Davis can be beaten.

While he hasn’t officially or otherwise announced his bid for the PLP leadership post at convention, I am of the view that his campaign for the post has nonetheless begun in earnest.

With the PLP being at rockbottom, maybe this might be the only opportunity that Mitchell will ever have to become leader.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, GB,

July 18, 2017.