The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE great, French leader Charles de Gaulle said, “the cemeteries of the world are filled with indispensable men”.

I am certain that PM Christie would concur with de Gaulle’s blunt statement. The PM has often reflected in sober, quiet moments that he has only two handfuls of daily living left if God  graced him  with as many years of life as his parents, who both died in their early 80s.

I can assure all of my ambitious friends in the Progressive Liberal Party that I would be the first to “yuck” the keys of PLP stewardship from the Party Leader if I thought that he intended to take them to his grave.

I listened to the Prime Minister’s comments on the Ed Field’s show and frankly I think certain prominent PLP supporters allowed themselves to be “goosied” by a media initiative that is determined to shape the political debate unashamedly, as partisan operatives, skewing facts or outright abandoning them.

The PM said two things that sparked  an unreasonable reaction; that younger members of his government asked that he stay on and his expression of concern on continued stability once he stepped aside from party leadership. I can only be speculative.

Perhaps the younger members are first time parliamentarians who are equally as ambitious as their more senior colleagues.

Common sense and political intuition must lead them to conclude that the PM no matter what occurs in 2017 has to initiate succession.

These younger members I suspect, will be more emboldened to test their own political prowess post 2017, rather than now.

On the issue of stability, I felt the PM was simply expressing a legitimate concern to ensure that the cannibalistic environment of brother eating sister, taking place in the FNM does not occur in the PLP by his stepping aside. It is my view that former FNM leader Hubert Ingrahams’s seemingly laissez faire attitude (until now) to the FNM leadership issue created instability in that party.

Instead of having the PLP for lunch over the last four years, they have eaten each other. Whether it’s your business,  church,  junkanoo group or your political party, long term, successful leadership conveys an inalienable right to influence who should succeed you.

Now let’s get straight to the bottom line. Accountants in particular appreciate that type of reasoning. Politics is a power game.

In 2015, David Cameron recorded a brilliant second term victory in the UK elections. He and his Chancellor of Exchequer, George Osborne were Big Chiefs 1 and 2, with the latter being PM in waiting.

To appease a vocal minority in his party, Cameron foolishly called a Referendum to continue European integration, something Britons were already doing for four decades. He gambled and lost, along with those who backed him strongly.

His main challenger Boris Johnson anticipated taking reins of the Conservative party. His main backer Michael Gove abandoned him, deciding that he was better suited to be PM. The party leaders deemed Gove a disloyal Machiavellian schemer and eventually rallied around Theresa May who became PM. 

Cameron stepping down to May’s ascendancy, had nothing to do with honour, or conventions. It was simply an exercise in raw political power.

The 2017 General Elections are at our doorstep. Current PLP parliamentarians should take note of words of Minnesota Senator Al Franken at the 2016 Democratic Convention. Pointing to his Minnesota delegation, he said, “I won by 300 votes. They are the reason why I am standing here giving this speech and not before my bathroom mirror”.

PLPs do have decisions to make. Whatever one may think of Mr Christie, there is no question of his keen instinct for political survival and prosperity. He inherited a weak PLP party in 1997 with five parliamentary seats and took it to 29 seats five years later.

Even in defeat, his party held 18 seats in 2007 and stormed back in 2012 to practically take the “whole hog”. Forty years of intense political warfare does take a toll. Some say there is no more fight or ideas left.

There is also the suggestion that he would be an impediment to a PLP victory, that the party would have to carry him, rather than the other way around. It is not for me to comment.

The PM is surrounded by capable and politically prudent colleagues. I am sure they have their own points of view on his tenure and political judgment.

They are on the front line and as shown in the FNM can flex their muscles at any time if confidence in the present PLP leadership evaporates.

But “buyer beware”. In politics when one chooses sides, you are accountable for your choices.

It’s distasteful to label accomplished PLP parliamentarians and party leaders as fearful, favour seekers, or sycophants if PM Christie continues to command their support.

In a political context, all of us in the words of that powerful prayer of confession, “follow the devices and desires of our own hearts”.

GARY CHRISTIE

Nassau,

July 26, 2016.