Philip ‘Brave’ Davis - Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader: “I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,”...

Davis affirms commitment to Christie


BRENT DEAN
NG Deputy News Editor
thenassauguardian
brentldean@nasguard.com



Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis yesterday publicly affirmed his commitment to assisting Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie in his bid to become prime minister again after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told Parliament on Thursday that Davis recently told Free National Movement (FNM) supporters Christie is not his leader.

“I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,” said Davis in a statement.

“No political mischief, false accusations, fabricated stories or propaganda will change the widely held public view that Hubert Ingraham must go and must go now.

“Our country deserves better than Hubert Ingraham and the FNM and their lame attempts to distract from their failures in every major area of governance.”

Ingraham also said PLP Elizabeth Member of Parliament Ryan Pinder, who was also on the recent trip to Cat Island where Davis’ alleged remarks were made, said that he is allied to Davis.

“Mr. Ingraham is politically desperate. He can see the writing on the wall. It is sad that of all the serious matters facing our country and the important matters discussed and debated in Parliament over the past few days that such utterances could find a place of prominence in the news cycle,” said Davis, who is also the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP and the PLP’s national campaign coordinator.

Referring to a United States Embassy cable from 2003 published by The Nassau Guardian via WikiLeaks, Davis said Ingraham and the FNM have their own divisions.

“What is factual and supported by evidence though is that Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette does not have the support of his leader, Hubert Ingraham,” said Davis.

Ingraham told the Americans, according to the cable, that the best thing that could happen would be for Symonette to challenge for the FNM leadership, because he “would be beaten so soundly that it would shatter all his illusions.”

But at the FNM convention more than two years later, Symonette did not challenge for the leadership. He went for deputy leader and won. He was made deputy prime minister when the party won at the polls in 2007.

It is known within the PLP that Davis would someday like to be the leader of the party. However, based on Christie’s overwhelming victory at the PLP’s October 2009 convention, it appears that Christie will hold on to the post of PLP leader until he decides to give it up. More than 80 percent of voting PLPs supported Christie at that convention.

Jun 11, 2011

thenassauguardian