Prime Minister Perry Christie is keeping the door open on a possible bid for re-election in 2017.
In opposition, Christie told The Nassau Guardian that if re-elected in 2012, he would step down at the mid-term.
But on the campaign trail ahead of that hotly-contested race, he stressed repeatedly that he fully intends to serve a full term.
Christie, however, characterized himself as the bridge to the next generation of leaders.
He has repeatedly spoken of being in the twilight of his political career with four decades of unbroken service in public life.
But with his administration nearing the mid-point of this term in office, Christie is refusing to say whether he intends to retire in 2017.
Responding to a reporter's question last week, he said, "You know who decides whether I'm running again? Firstly, me and my family. Secondly, the people, the members of Parliament and the political organization throughout the country.
"So I'm not going to be distracted by that now. I see people saying I am running again. That's fine. They are able to say that. I am now running to get results from the Progressive Liberal Party government. That's what I'm running for. I am running full speed all the time. I have not taken a day off since the election."
Christie is certainly powerful enough in his party to hold on to the leadership beyond 2017. But he would also need to have the confidence of the electorate.
If he is truly thinking as a nation builder and statesman, he would recognize the next generation leaders need to step in.
In stating definitively that he intends to step down after this term, he would start to prepare the nation and his party for new leadership.
It would allow the party and the country to start identifying a successor.
That process is not an overnight one.
It would give the country enough time to understand that person's vision and his or her political policy and approach to economic development.
This would set the right tone and framework for new national leadership.
But if Christie is not prepared to say at the mid-term that he plans to retire, there can be no real effort at transitioning.
After 40 years in public life, it is hard to understand why Christie would even consider another term. As the country's third prime minister, he has done some good and he, like other leaders, has made mistakes.
There is a general view that it is time to move beyond Christie and Hubert Ingraham, the former prime minister who retired in 2012.
Christie, of course, would not be alone in having a change of heart on whether to stay on.
After saying he would only serve two terms in office, Ingraham retired as leader of the FNM in 2002 and returned in 2005. His party was re-elected in 2007 and he returned as prime minister. After the FNM lost in 2012, he departed public life.
With weak leadership in the Free National Movement, there has been much speculation over whether Ingraham will return to public life.
Back in January, Christie told National Review "all bets would be off" if anyone could tell him that Ingraham intends to return to public life.
A few days earlier, he said at the Bahamas Business Outlook seminar that he was on the homestretch of his political career and suggested that the actions he is taking in office are not intended to win him re-election, as he won't be seeking it.
Apart from impeding the advancement of young, bright minds in The Bahamas, any effort he takes to hold on to power beyond 2017 could cheat the country of a new injection of fresh leadership.
We are thirsty for a shift in our political culture, a move away from Pindling-dominated politics. This would likely require a generational change in national leadership.
A new Bahamas demands aggressive, progressive, forward thinking for policy formation. It is not likely that we would see that under another term of Perry Christie.
While we believe Christie is genuine in his efforts to get the economic engine roaring again, his leadership has been ineffective in dissuading an erosion of standards in national life.
The nation's long broken education system remains ailing; no administration has yet figured out a dependable and efficient public transportation system; the City of Nassau remains a national disgrace in terms of appearance, and the golden goose of tourism continues to produce half-spoiled eggs.
Granted there is no clear successor to Christie, it is time for the country to begin thinking seriously about leadership prospects.
At this point, the nation ought to be preparing for the next stage of development and advancement.
If Christie decides to stay on, he would effectively be killing the next generation of leaders in the Progressive Liberal Party.
The challenge now for those with ambition is to strike the right balance between setting themselves apart by demonstrating vision for future national development, while keeping in line with the Cabinet collective responsibility convention in the Westminster system.
The longer the members of this new generation of leaders sit and take their cues from Christie, the more their franchise will be damaged, because they will be measured based on his achievements and actions and their lack of action.
Another round of a Christie leadership would likely contribute to a level of stagnation in the way the country is governed.
There is a wide sense among the electorate that Christie's leadership is not engendering excitement for our future prospects as a nation.
While the prime minister contends it would create a distraction to say what he intends to do in 2017, there is also a distraction in not knowing.
Another term of Christie would lock us into a time warp potentially for another five years where we would not have the benefit of the young, bright minds who would be able to advance the country with new ideas.
We hope a change in leadership in this country would mean a whole rethink of our society and a resetting of the agenda. It might at least provide some hope for something transformative.
We suspect, though, that if Christie does put himself forward in the next election, there are voters who supported the PLP in the 2012 election who would roundly reject him and the PLP this next cycle.
Members of a new generation of voters are demanding more and different in their leadership. Christie no longer speaks to them. He remains stuck in an era of politics that these new and younger voters have no fluency in.
Relay
We think recent statements on the leadership issue by Bahamas Faith Ministries International President Dr. Myles Munroe are instructive.
In an interview with The Nassau Guardian, Munroe suggested that the political leadership in the country should recognize that its time is over and identify suitable replacements.
"Leadership is a relay. It is not a sprint," he said.
"The most important part of a relay is not how fast you run. It is that crucial moment of passing that baton.
"Leadership will be judged not by how fast or how long or great they ran. It is that moment in history when they have to let go of that baton. Nothing can be worse than passing the baton to the next runner, but you are not letting go of it.
"The next election, to me, is the passing of the baton," he said.
"That's a tough moment because there are people who believe [they are] not yet old enough to leave the race.
"Letting it go is tough because if you enjoy power, if you enjoy notoriety, the respect and the recognition and if you confuse your value with your title...you feel like if you let the baton go you let your life go."
Christie has always given the impression that he enjoys power. He loves being prime minister. He reminds us often that he is prime minister.
It seems for now he intends to keep a tight hold on that baton, his past statements on being the bridge to new leadership notwithstanding.
There is a need, we think, for a more mature approach to how we prepare our country for new leadership.
As Munroe opined, "The next election will prove who is mature and who is immature.
"I'm talking among the fathers. It will determine who has vision and who has ambition.
"Ambition is normally canvassing for personal progress or personal promotion.
"Vision has to do with the progress of other people. This will test who loves the country or who wants to use the country."
While Christie hangs on to the possibility of holding on to power after this term, he should also be reminded that he has an opportunity to leave office with grace and dignity, as opposed to being kicked out in a bloody battle like Sir Lynden Pindling and Hubert Ingraham.
The Christie era, we believe, is drawing to a close.
It is unlikely that a prolonged grip on the leadership baton would be in the national interest.

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