A liability for Davis

Former Prime Minister Perry Christie emerged from the shadows of retirement several days ago to speak at a memorial service at Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) headquarters for former PLP Senator Audley Hanna Sr. and used the opportunity to fire up PLPs, urging them to fully support the party’s leader, Philip Brave Davis – but the best help that Christie could give Davis as the election season builds is to keep quiet.

Christie should not be fooled by the applause that came from those gathered at the memorial – he is still bad for the PLP’s public brand four years after he led the party to an embarrassing and dramatic defeat at the polls after allowing his insatiable appetite for power to drive the party to near obliteration.

When the dust was settled, even the political titan Christie was brought to his knees, losing his seat by a mere four votes.

Davis, who had been Christie’s deputy and who remains a tough sell notwithstanding that the country is clearly in an anti-FNM mood, has been working to rebuild the PLP’s image and to project the party as a reformed and reinvigorated organization, and himself as a leader who will not tolerate wrongdoing from within PLP ranks.

But the issue many Bahamians still have with the party and its leadership is that Davis was a member of the last administration, whose condemnable actions sealed its fate on May 10, 2017. 

Christie’s comments last week were not made from a rally stage, but it was a public event that the party broadcasted across social media. He told PLPs there is no greater time than now to rally behind Davis.

“There is no second shot at this,” he said. “This is it.”

Christie said, “… We owe it to him (Davis) to do whatever we can to ensure, with God’s help, that he is the next prime minister.”

In a throwback to the strong sentiment he faced while party leader and prime minister, he said, “The narrative in the country will be your leader can’t do this. That’s what they said about me. It’s what they say, that we corrupt, we this, we that.

“You are leaders in here and there is no time greater than now for you to begin to order your footsteps towards making this man the next prime minister.

“I just want to say that to you because it is that important. I don’t want any of us to make the mistake that we can come back and say, ‘Lord, if only we had done that.’” 

We do not doubt that in some PLP circles, Christie is still loved and respected, and still has influence, but he would likely prove a liability for Davis as the election nears if any decision is made to use him in a public manner – the way Free National Movement Leader (FNM) Dr. Hubert Minnis used former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to help seal victory in 2017.

After that election, Christie rightly took blame for the defeat and stepped down as party leader; he did not have much of a choice. The party won just four of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. The overwhelming majority of Christie’s former Cabinet ministers were rejected at the polls.

After that election, the leadership of the PLP commissioned a study on why it lost the election.

The results were not surprising, but the research conducted by Maureen Webber, a Jamaican social development practitioner, was valuable to Davis as he started the process of rebuilding the PLP and charting a new path for the beleaguered party.

The researcher concluded that Christie fatigue; the failure to address “wrongdoing” of Cabinet ministers; persistent corruption perceptions; the constitutional and gaming referenda; the handling of the Rubis oil spill; “unnecessary” spending on carnival and poor response in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew were key reasons for the defeat.

Constituencies responding to an online survey indicated that the perception of the PLP as corrupt was the single greatest element that impacted the party.

The negative perception of Christie was the second element that had significant impact.

The message from the field was clear, according to that report completed by Webber, who spent countless hours interviewing PLPs and examining the issues related to the loss.

That report recommended, among other strategies, that the PLP seek to broaden its base by attracting more youth voters; modernize how it communicates; rebuild partnerships with civil society, professional groups and the media; and begin to lead and participate in national conversations on anti-social behavior and crime.

Christie still reminds many Bahamians of a very dark period in our national life in which the commitment to transparency and accountability were at an all-time low and there existed a perception of corruption, even if such corruption has yet to be proven. It remains a reality in the minds of many voters.

They do not want to hear from Christie.

Many are still finding it difficult to picture a Davis administration, even if they are anxious to see Minnis gone.

The PLP might still win with Christie’s voice featuring prominently in the campaign; having a presence in the campaign might give him some satisfaction and cause him to feel useful, after such a crushing rejection by the Bahamian people, but we do not think it is worth the gamble for Davis.

In 2017, Ingraham’s presence on the rally stage bolstered Minnis, whose leadership attributes were still in question. This is not to say that Minnis needed Ingraham to win, but the former prime minister’s involvement certainly did not hurt.

Days before the election, Ingraham, affectionately known as “Papa”, urged Bahamians to “do it for me; fire them”.

We opined at the time that despite Ingraham’s faults and despite the anger many people had toward some of the decisions he made as prime minister, there was a feeling among many that his strong leadership and focus would do the FNM and the Bahamian people good.

At the time, one commentator, noting that the FNM rallies had been “dull and boring”, remarked, “Ingraham brought an incredible jolt of stamina when the body of the FNM needed it most”.

Christie is not likely to do the same for the PLP.

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