The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Senator Robyn Lynes said she would not be intimidated running to be chair of the Progressive Liberal Party, insisting her bid is not “anti-leadership”.

“This is our constitution,” she said during a press conference yesterday. “This is our democracy. We set the date for this agenda. And so I think it’s nonsense to say participating in a party process is anti-party.”

Ms Lynes, former Cabinet Minister Shane Gibson and incumbent office holder Fred Mitchell will run for chair at the PLP’s convention next month.

Although Mr Gibson’s bid has not shocked party insiders, given the tension between him and Mr Mitchell that played out publicly when he unsuccessfully sought the nomination for the West Grand Bahama and Bimini by-election, Ms Lynes’ bid has annoyed some members of the party’s establishment who see it as a challenge to the interests of party leader and Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.

Mr Mitchell has revealed that Mr Davis asked him to run for chairman again. He said in a WhatsApp message to PLP supporters over the weekend that Mr Davis and PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper signed his nomination papers.

“Notwithstanding that, there is a challenge unexpectedly from two members of the party,” he wrote. “This is most unfortunate but the run-off will be on Friday, 10 November, 2023. Pray for my success.”

Ms Lynes said yesterday that just as the Davis administration reset its legislative agenda by proroguing then reopening Parliament, it is time the PLP “reset internally”.

“More than ever, now is the time for us to reset to our core values and reinvigorate our traditional base of supporters,” she said. “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. We have to do that whilst managing successfully the task of governance.

“A singular focus is needed for the national chair, a focus that is party and party-oriented.”

Ms Lynes, 40, was the PLP’s national vice chair from 2009 to 2017 and is currently the national deputy chair.

She praised the party’s leadership team yesterday and said Mr Mitchell had been an exceptional chairman.

However, she said party members want more from the chair.

“I believe that we have to shift it to someone who can focus on the party and focus on the needs of the party as a sole focus and not a divided one,” she said.

Mr Gibson declined to be interviewed yesterday. However, on Friday, he sent a WhatsApp message to PLP supporters explaining why he wants to be chairman.

He said he would bring cohesiveness to the party’s policies and ideologies and mend fractured relationships.

Nominations for offices in the PLP closed last Thursday.

The chair is responsible for the organs and apparatus of the party and is its chief executive officer, according to the PLP’s constitution. The chair presides over convention and NGC meetings.

The chair and the party leader are the spokespersons for the party.