By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Fort Charlotte MP Alfred Sears yesterday announced that he is open to running for the position of leader of the Progressive Liberal Party when the party holds its convention in November.

Mr Sears, who was recently ratified as the PLP’s candidate for the Fort Charlotte constituency, told The Tribune that he is “available” to run for PLP leader, adding that “nobody should be afraid” to say whether they intend to contest the party’s top post.

Mr Sears would not confirm if his “availability” meant that he would actually take on incumbent leader Prime Minister Perry Christie for the party’s leadership; however he said such confirmation would likely come after he has done “some preliminary canvassing to see and determine the level of support.”

To that end, however, Mr Sears said he hopes that his track record of public service “would be viewed as a basis to give the public confidence” in his “integrity and competence.”

Mr Sears made the announcement on the heels of the official opening of his annual Fort Charlotte Summer Camp at the Fort Charlotte constituency office on Boyd Road.

“I’m available, I’m available, and I think every person who feels that they can contribute to sharpening the vision and executing in a competent manner the programmes of the party should avail themselves,” Mr Sears said when asked by The Tribune if he planned to run for PLP leader.

He then added: “I mean, nobody should be afraid to say ‘I’m available.’ So I’m available.”

“…I think in any democratic institution, the organisation should have the opportunity to confirm existing leadership or to refresh itself with new leadership. And I don’t think the Progressive Liberal Party should be any exception.”

When pressed to elaborate and specify whether his “availability” meant that he actually would run, Mr Sears said: “I think that in any contest or possible contest, you would want to first of all do some preliminary canvassing to see and determine the level of support. So that’s why I said I’m available, because tactically, strategically, one would have to basically do some groundwork and determine that the necessary support is there and to do whatever is necessary to build and consolidate support.”

When asked if he felt he had the necessary support, Mr Sears said: “I have a track record of public service, not only as an elected member of Parliament but in terms of my engagement going back to the ‘70s as a youth leader in this community and certainly in terms of my civic engagement within the society. So I have a record and I would hope that my record would be viewed as a basis to give the public confidence in terms of integrity and competence.”

Mr Sears is a former attorney general and minister of education.

All party positions will be up for contest at this year’s PLP convention, slated for November.

Four names have emerged in discussions surrounding the future leadership of the PLP – Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell and Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald.

Former PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby has also hinted that he might run for the position of PLP leader.

In June 2015, Mr Wilchcombe revealed he has interest in leading the PLP and if he had the chance to become prime minister he would take it. Shortly afterwards Mr Davis said that he is “ready for the job” if there were a vacancy. Both men said their plans depended on whether Mr Christie offered himself for re-election, with Mr Wilchcombe in particular stressing that he would not challenge the prime minister.

Both Mr Mitchell and Mr Fitzgerald have not yet offered comments on the issue.

Last September, Mr Christie declared that he would go into the PLP’s next convention as leader and emerge as leader. He later told party supporters that he would not allow anyone to put a “proverbial political gun” to his head telling him when to demit his post.

Initially, the convention was planned for November 2015 but was rescheduled for April 2016 because of the devastation left by Hurricane Joaquin in the Family Islands and recovery efforts, which were underway at the time.

The April date was then rescheduled until later this year to give attention to the June referendum on gender equality.

The PLP has not held a convention since 2009, even though the party’s constitution mandates that one be held every year.