PLPs move to block nominations... Christie asked to make ‘bold’ decisions
By CANDIA DAMES
Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com
Three prominent members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) are appealing to party leader Perry Christie to ensure that several PLP Members of Parliament do not receive nominations to run in the next general election, claiming the party might be guaranteed a loss with them on the ticket.
Former parliamentarian George Smith, former PLP chairman Raynard Rigby, and Philip Galanis, who coordinated the party’s campaign in 2007, wrote to Christie recently and suggested the party could not win at the polls if it runs Shane Gibson (Golden Gates); Vincent Peet (North Andros), Obie Wilchcombe (West End and Bimini) and V. Alfred Gray (MICAL).
The party has not yet announced any candidates for those constituencies but there is a widely held view inside and outside the PLP that the incumbents will seek re-election.
Smith, Rigby and Galanis also suggested to Christie that former Minister Leslie Miller, who has already been ratified by the National General Council of the PLP for Blue Hills, be removed from the ticket.
“We also hold the view that the candidacy of Anthony Moss and Picewell Forbes must be carefully reviewed based on the need to have competent and capable candidates, worthy of service in the Cabinet of The Bahamas,” the men wrote.
In the letter, dated May 5, 2011, the prominent PLPs also pointed to the Greenberg Quinlan Rosner report, completed in 2007 after the party’s defeat at the polls.
The researchers hired by the PLP concluded that the PLP faced four fundamental challenges: Expanding the party's base; cleansing the party's reputation; conveying former Prime Minister Perry Christie's leadership qualities and advancing a progressive social agenda.
A majority of Bahamian voters surveyed by the internationally-renowned research group said they did not vote for the PLP because they perceived Christie to be a weak and indecisive leader.
The researchers — who reportedly surveyed more than 1,200 people — also concluded that the PLP lost in part because of perceptions that its government was scandal-ridden.
Smith, Rigby and Galanis said this “disturbing” perception must be addressed and it must be evident in the candidates selected.
“We also hold the view that the party and its leadership must seek to restore the confidence that the people lost in the party,” the authors of the letter added.
“...We are confident that the Bahamian people will see you as a different kind of leader if you act now to safeguard the interest of the party.
“In fact, the Bahamian people elected the PLP, under your leadership in 2002, because you took a principled position and publicly declared that you preferred to lose doing what was right rather than to win doing what was wrong.
“It is our view that this same approach must be employed by you during the upcoming election so that the Bahamian people can be convinced that your leadership will be transforming.”
Most of the MPs named in the letter have all come under fire at some point in various controversies that have ensnared the party.
Gibson resigned from Christie’s Cabinet in early 2007 after The Tribune newspaper printed photographs of him in an intimate embrace with the late actress Anna Nicole Smith. He was accused by the Free National Movement (FNM) of fast-tracking the residency application of Smith, who had become a close family friend.
However, Gibson was still nominated for the 2007 election and was re-elected.
However, the Greenberg report pointed to the Anna Nicole controversy as one of the reasons for the PLP’s defeat in 2007.
Around the same time as that debacle was grabbing headlines, another minister was embroiled in what some termed a significant scandal.
Peet — who was once a young minister in the Cabinet of the late former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling — faced a whirlwind of controversy after information came to light that his driver stole a substantial sum of money from his bedroom closet. At the time of the theft, he was minister of labor and immigration in the Christie Cabinet.
Peet sued Hubert Ingraham as leader of the FNM for comments he made at several rallies over the money-in-the-closet incident. However, there is no evidence the lawsuit went anywhere.
More recently, Wilchcombe was questioned by police in connection with the alleged attempted extortion of American actor John Travolta.
The MP was never charged with a crime and was one of the witnesses in the case against his friend and business partner, attorney Pleasant Bridgewater, who at the time was a PLP senator.
Many observers believe the incident hurt Wilchcombe’s chances of becoming deputy leader of the party. Many observers inside and outside the PLP also believe he could never make a successful bid at the leadership.
Prior to the Travolta matter, Wilchcombe had been widely viewed as a likely successor to Christie.
The alleged plot was reportedly hatched in January 2009, not long after Travolta’s teenage son died on Grand Bahama.
In October that year, Forbes, the South Andros MP, declared while on stage at a PLP convention that Bridgewater was a free woman.
But the jury in the case was still deliberating. Senior Justice Anita Allen (now Court of Appeal president) declared a mistrial in the case.
In an unrelated matter, Gray threatened to sue The Tribune and the Punch over certain allegations relating to his alleged conduct.
These matters have long faded from the headlines, but Smith, Rigby and Galanis believe they could come back to haunt the PLP during the approaching campaign season.
“WEAK AND INDECISIVE”
In the run-up to the 2007 general election, the FNM, using a string of alleged scandals in the then-governing party to bolster its case, pointed to Christie's perceived "weak and indecisive" leadership style.
The three authors of the letter to Christie believe this perception has not gone away.
They wrote: “We also cannot lose sight of the fact that there is a growing perception that you are indecisive.
“This is a perception that the FNM will attempt to use as their advantage. We have already seen signs of their use over the past few weeks.
“Faced with this reality, it is our considered view that to defeat the impact of the FNM’s characterizations of your style of leadership, bold decisions must be made about the party’s ticket in the next election.
“This will allow you to speak to the intellectual and moral depth of the team and to demonstrate to the public that those who have (and continue to have) a negative perception were dropped from the ticket, a bold decision that you made as leader.
“To show your strength as leader, you must act with boldness and the public will see that you understood what our defeat in 2007 was about.”
Explaining why they believe the Miller nomination should be withdrawn, Smith, Rigby and Galanis pointed to the recent controversy in which Miller found himself when the Department of Customs initially refused to release one of his containers.
Customs Comptroller Glenn Gomez had said documentation needed to clear the container was incorrect and he also claimed that Miller, a prominent businessman, owed the department a substantial sum of money.
Miller told The Nassau Guardian at the time that there were errors with the invoices. The container was eventually released after payment was made.
He also strongly denied he owed a substantial amount in duties.
Still, the authors of the letter believe this situation could reflect poorly on the party in the campaign.
Referring to Miller, Gibson, Peet, Wilchcombe and Gray, the three prominent PLPs wrote to Christie: “We also fully appreciate the fact that these men served in your Cabinet.
“This makes the decision more important as it is likely that upon the party’s return to the government, you are more likely than not to extend to them similar postings.”
They added, “It is our considered view that the cloud and perception that encircle them are too much for the party to address during an intense and fiercely divided campaign.
“As you know, the good of one man should never overshadow the good of the thousands of supporters who expect us to do all in our power to secure the party’s victory.
“This must be our sacred approach to the selection and identification of our standard bearers in this election cycle.”
Referring to Moss and Forbes, the letter writers said, “We have been led to understand that these men have lost considerable influence and ground in their respective constituencies and the party must ensure that their presence on the ticket will not lead to defeats in these areas.
“Exuma and South Andros are valuable to the party in forming the next government and therefore all efforts must be employed to ensure that our base is galvanized behind these incumbents, otherwise the party must begin the search for new ‘winning’ candidates.”
The party has already ratified the candidacy of attorney Arnold Forbes for Mount Moriah, but Smith, Rigby and Galanis also advised Christie that this decision ought to be reviewed.
May 16, 2011
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