The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins said yesterday that prevailing cultural views about what makes people qualified to lead this country has meant that only those with “enough dirt and skeletons” in their closet are “entrusted” to become prime minister.

Reiterating his view that new political leadership is needed in the Bahamas, he said it’s time for the country to engage in a “serious and sober discussion” about transitioning into new political leadership while de-emphasising the importance of political experience in decisions about who should be our leaders.

His comments came in an interview with The Tribune, when he reacted to former Immigration Minister Loftus Roker’s statement to this newspaper that no one in the Progressive Liberal Party is capable of succeeding Prime Minister Perry Christie as leader.

“We have a narrow and parochial view of who we could consider qualified to lead the country,” Dr Rollins said at his office in western New Providence. “You have to be in political life for eons, you have to be around for so long that you must have so many skeletons in your closet that you can then be the one capable of being entrusted to govern because you have enough dirt and skeletons that you could always be reminded about what is known about you in the event that you try to lead in the best interest of this country.”

Asked if this is an issue affecting current government leadership, he said: “Anytime you have someone in public life for decades, they become one with that same system that you say you find fault with. If you say the system is corrupt, you cannot be in that system for decade after decade after decade and not become culpable in the faults found within that system. It is impossible for one to expect change to occur in a system led by somebody who is synonymous with the old way of doing things, with the past. If you want a new direction you have to cleave with your past, you have to put people in position who have a new perspective. One can’t expect (the) country to buy into the notion that the country is going to be better off because of your experience given the context of the current state of affairs.”

Last week, Mr Roker said no one in the PLP is capable of taking over from Mr Christie, although he implied he was also unimpressed with Mr Christie’s leadership.

Reacting to this, Dr Rollins said Mr Roker’s view is tantamount to believing that the country has a dearth of talent.

“We are where we are as a country because we don’t believe in ourselves,” he said. “We criticise the PLP for not living up to its campaign slogan of ‘Believing in Bahamians’ but we are guilty of not believing in ourselves. I think Mr Roker reflects a view that far too many people in our country (have) and that is that if not Mr Christie, then no one else could function in role of leader or prime minister for the PLP. That’s a dangerous proposition because one, it totally refutes this notion that leaders have the ability to groom successors. It also dismisses this notion that we are a country brimming with talent. You cannot say you believe this country has tremendous potential and at the same time say only one man could lead. I think there are many people who are members of the PLP, not just as parliamentarians, not necessarily on the front lines of the party as members or senators, who are capable of leading the party.”

Dr Rollins said he respects Mr Christie and the sacrifices he has made in leading the country and is grateful to him for bringing him into the PLP fold.

Nonetheless, he said: “When I said (last year) on the floor (of the House of Assembly) that the country needs new leadership, I wasn’t only talking about personalities, but about mindsets and in that instance I was talking about the mindset that exists in the way the country is governed. So I would never ever take back what I said then and I say now that we do need new leadership in this country and those who would offer themselves for leadership have to possess a different mindset. They cannot govern the way those who learned at the feet of Lynden Pindling governed or governs. I think it’s time for the parties to create the environment for a new generation of leadership to rise. I don’t think we can go into the next election with the same leadership that we had in the last election and I say that about leadership about political parties in this country as a whole.”

Dr Rollins said he knows for sure that there are members of Mr Christie’s Cabinet who believe they could lead the country, adding that self-interest has made some unwilling to try to effect change in the party.

“I know for a fact there are many in that Cabinet that feel that way and those who believe that Mr Christie must stay on, within parliamentary circles, they would admit it is because of a vested interest that they want him to stay on because they feel as though if he goes, someone else would get the position they want. So again, they’re not thinking about broader, national interests but their own personal interests.

“You got some who are saying, ‘I’d be in a much better position to become leader if Mr Christie takes the party in the next general election. I’ll be in a much better position to become leader after the next general election whether or not the PLP wins.’ That’s the calculations being made.”

Dr Rollins added that in talking about the need for a new generation leader to rise, he is not speaking about himself, saying the party has many “within its tent” with leadership capabilities.

Asked to name some, he said: “That is for the public to decide, not a leader to make an isolated decision, saying ‘This is who I prefer and this is who I pick to further my interests.’ That would be tantamount to preferring special interests. We have to allow public participation in those kinds of exercises, although it is a decision that is going to be made at all high levels of political parties.”