By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Alfred Sears has told key supporters and members of the Progressive Liberal Party’s Fort Charlotte constituency association that he will not seek re-election, The Tribune understands.

Mr Sears, 72, revealed this to them last Tuesday during a meeting.

The Tribune understands that former Bain and Grants Town MP Travis Robinson has been working to build support in Fort Charlotte and is the Free National Movement’s front-runner for the nomination there.

The Tribune could not reach Mr Sears yesterday.

“Look here, there’s been a lot of speculation,” he told Eyewitness News when asked about his political future last week. “I have no comments about any of the speculation. All I say is watch me.”

Asked if he was still thinking about it, he told the reporter: “No comments is no comments. However you phrase it, however you formulate the question, it’s no comment. Just watch me. Watch the community. The future will always be brighter than the past. That’s the commitment I have, and that’s the commitment we’ve made.”

MICAL MP Basil McIntosh and North Eleuthera MP Sylvanus Petty are the only PLPs to publicly confirm that they will not seek re-election. House of Assembly Speaker Patricia Deveaux, the Bamboo Town MP, has said she is unsure about running again.

Mr Sears entered frontline politics in 2002, winning the Fort Charlotte seat for the PLP. He served as Attorney General and Minister of Education, Science and Technology during that term. In 2017, former Prime Minister Perry Christie crushed his leadership ambitions, defeating him by receiving 87 percent of the vote.

He has kept a low profile in the Davis administration. He was initially appointed Minister of Works and Utilities. In a Cabinet reshuffle in September 2023, he was appointed Minister of Immigration and National Insurance.

Prominent PLP supporters in Fort Charlotte were tightlipped yesterday about the future of their constituency representation. Those who spoke to The Tribune praised Mr Sears’ representation but said he lacked adequate support from the party.