The Tribune

By Tyler McKenzie

CONVENTION time is almost upon us, with the PLP gathering on Friday – and the race for the chairman position has been taking all the headlines.

The juicy part of the conversation has surrounded what seems to be a very personal duel between Shane Gibson and Fred Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell is the incumbent party chairman, and is running again. He also holds the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the administration, of course, something that has caused some debate over whether it is appropriate to hold both roles.

Mr Gibson and Mr Mitchell had a very public disagreement over the former’s candidacy for the West Grand Bahama and Bimini seat, of course. Mr Mitchell fired off shots saying some people ought to know when it is time to move on from public life, despite him being eight years senior to Mr Gibson. Mr Gibson fired right back, talking about how when he ran a ministry he had to work rather than just fly around, drink tea and smoke cigars. Clearly, no love lost there.

Mr Gibson lost out on the nomination, with former FNM Kingsley Smith getting the nod instead.

While the renewal of that clash caught the eye, it was perhaps more striking that Robin Lynes is also challenging Mr Mitchell for the role of chairman.

Mr Gibson has now bowed out of the race, throwing his support to Ms Lynes, and certainly within the ranks of the PLP, those I’ve spoken to have talked of her bid as having more substance than Mr Gibson’s.

There certainly has been a feeling of some discontent among the party ranks. Some were upset that the candidacy for the by-election went to a former FNM rather than someone with longer party ties, for example.

Mr Gibson’s bid for the seat came along with support in certain sections that feel the current administration has not delivered for them personally. For some, that’s down to wanting to know when contracts are going to come their way – though frankly pandering to such demands would be the wrong way for any government to be approaching things anyway. It doesn’t mean it comes without a cost politically, though.

Whether those frustrations are enough to give Ms Lynes the support she needs to unseat Mr Mitchell, however, I’m not so sure.

It has certainly been enough for Mr Mitchell to take the threat seriously enough to speak out about it. Not that he ever needs much encouragement.

When Mr Gibson stepped out of the race, he said the fact that two people challenged Mr Mitchell, it showed a lack of confidence. Mr Mitchell has quickly fired back to say that clearly as Mr Gibson is no longer running, he has no confidence in himself.

More notably, Mr Mitchell suggested that he had the support of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and anyone who won the race who did not have the PM’s support would struggle to function and carry out their duties.

That is a very top-down view of matters, I would say. Equally, you could say that any leader who failed to work with the chairman favoured by the party would struggle to function.

Either way, I have yet to see anything about Mr Davis that suggests he would not be pragmatic enough to work with whoever the chairman ended up being – and as Ms Lynes has held the deputy chair post, it is not as if she is far from favour with leadership.

That Mr Mitchell feels the need to shore up his support by leaning on the PM’s support tells me that the race with Ms Lynes is not to be dismissed.

Amid all this to and fro, Ms Lynes herself has been quieter, pointing out that she is simply following what is set out in the party’s constitution, and saying “I think it’s nonsense to say participating in a party process is anti-party”.

She says just as the administration reset its agenda by proroguing Parliament, now it is time to “reset internally”.

She said: “More than ever, now is the time for us to reset to our core values and reinvigorate our traditional base of supporters. They need to hear the PLP they know. Too many of our members are not satisfied with the direction and the sound, and that is not a critique that is meant to divide or destroy. We must focus on and take care of our home base.”

There it is again, the base of supporters, that idea that there is a disconnect between the top of government and the base of the party.

Whoever wins, the sounds that have been coming out of this process ought to be heard by the party leadership as the countdown to the next election begins.

Every vote that goes towards Ms Lynes will be a pointer to the level of frustration party members are feeling.

Of course, we should not look just at the PLP. Take a look across the political fence at the FNM, and you will see party leader Michael Pintard.

Despite the FNM constitution mandating a convention every two years – the last being November 2021 – he says that the party is “fine just the way we are right now”.

The split between Mr Gibson and Mr Mitchell is tiny compared to the obvious split between Mr Pintard and former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis – and when the FNM does hold a convention, the leadership itself is likely to be up in the air.

Then there is the role of the former DNA leader, Arinthia Komolafe, to throw into the mix. It is nearly six months since Mr Pintard said she is expected to join the FNM, and rumours are circulating as to what role she might have if she does. If PLPs were frustrated with Kingsley Smith getting a shot at becoming MP, just wait and see how annoyed FNMs will be if Mrs Komolafe gets a senior role ahead of long-time party members.

Interesting times ahead for all.