By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TWO senior Progressive Liberal Party Cabinet ministers are certain that Prime Minister Perry Christie will emerge undefeated at the PLP’s November convention, one of them going so far as to suggest that Mr Christie could not be replaced as leader.

This position was taken by Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister V Alfred Gray, who insisted that the prime minister was “entrenched” in the party’s top post. He also took a dig at former Attorney General Alfred Sears, saying he would have advised him ahead of making public his intention to contest the leadership position of the governing party “not to run to lose.”

A win for Mr Sears, the MICAL MP said, is a “long shot.” He said he doubted the party would “genuflect” and change its leadership months before the 2017 general election.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said while it is good for people to see democracy at work during the convention where all posts will be open for challenge, she was “quite sure” and “firm” that Mr Christie will win hands down.

The last PLP convention was held in 2009.

“Mr Sears has a right to contest the leadership of the party. My personal view is that he may not succeed,” Mr Gray said yesterday morning before Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

“I wish him well, but Mr Christie is entrenched as the leader of the party and I don’t think that at this late stage prior to the elections the party is going to genuflect and change its leadership to accommodate Mr Sears.

“But he’s my friend,” Mr Gray added. “I would personally have advised him not to run to lose. I don’t run to lose. If you in it, you got to be in it to win it. I don’t think there is a path that I can see that he succeeds. He will probably get some votes, I expect that, but winning it is a long shot, but I do wish him well.”

Mr Gray said, in comparing both the PLP and Free National Movement, the electorate is able to see that the Official Opposition does not have it together.

“I expect Mr Christie to win and to take us into the next election with victory,” he said. “If you look at both parties anyone with a juvenile intelligence will see the FNM just doesn’t have it together. I can’t see anybody going against the PLP, with all the things we have been able to do and are doing.

“I think people change when they think they could get something better. Now popularity might play a major role in the upcoming elections so my advice to MPs running again is to ensure in their constituencies they are as popular as they should be to ensure 50 per cent plus one.

“With several parties running, the PLP will win again. Maybe some casualties, not least of which might be my own, but I’m in it to win it. We’re not going to do this for the fun. This is political warfare and we’re in it to win it.”

For her part, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said she was looking forward to Mr Christie winning the PLP’s leadership race, adding that he is the right man for the job.

She said: “The PLP is not just a political party. It is a movement. It is in the hearts and souls of the Bahamian people and I believe it is a democratic movement. To the extent that someone wishes to run for anything in the PLP, that has always been their right and for the rules to allow for it.

“It’s good for people to see democracy flourishing in our organisation. I’m quite sure that Mr Christie will win hands down and I’m looking forward to him winning hands down and I firmly believe that he is the right man for the job. (I) firmly believe that.”

Initially, the PLP’s 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 that 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.

In July, Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller and former Cabinet minister George Smith said they wanted the PLP to hold a convention this month and not in November, arguing that sooner rather than later the party needed to organise itself and excite its base in preparation for the next general election.

However, party Chairman Bradley Roberts blasted both veteran MPs for attempting to “wash the party’s linens in public” and said they both know the proper procedure to have their concerns heard and addressed internally.

So far, only Mr Sears has announced his intent to challenge Mr Christie for the PLP’s top post.