Dear Editor,

Sir Lynden Pindling was not fond of losing at anything, much less internal party elections. On those rare occasions when he was privately forced to stare defeat in the face the big man would absorb the winning argument and while never conceding defeat would lean back, draw both hands together to form a triangle and audibly exhale "oah!" (as in "oar"). That was the only clue that he had thrown in the towel.

Pindling's most public concession came on August 19, 1992 from his bungalow in Kemp's Bay, Andros when the nation heard his plaintive "oah!" all the way in Inagua. The most narcissistic PLP leader ever, Perry Christie has tasted the bile of defeat but because he doesn't have an "oar" in the water, few in the party know what his "I give up" body language actually is. A factual and evidence-based argument gains no truck with the man who believes he has a divine right to rule The Bahamas.

Linguists have long ago dismissed Christie as a blowhard in love with his own voice. Kinesics tells a different story. This science foretells a man deeply worried about the announced plans by Alfred Sears to challenge him for the job of PLP leader.

Christie's first public response was to nervously laugh it off. Privately he must have huddled with his kitchen cabinet (Obie Wilchcombe, Jerome Fitzgerald et al) to find a way to block the intrepid Mr. Sears. Fitzgerald swung the hatchet first, proclaiming Sears seriously handicapped because he was a stranger in the House of Assembly, as if leaders only reside in Parliament.

In calling on the goons to corral the "dogs of war" and not release them on Sears, Fitzgerald was de facto blowing the ole PLP dog whistle as hard as he could. His messages came across as "attack!". That kind of talk waved off former PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby when he announced he was challenging Christie last year. He had a rethink.

Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage keeps putting his big toe in the leadership challenge pool but always gets cold feet and retreats to Christie's warm embrace.

Then there is Philip Brave Davis, Christie's erstwhile bosom buddy who has cried wolf so many times about being ready to dethrone Christie that even his inner circle doesn't take him seriously anymore.

Christie looked set to coast to re-election at the party's convention this year and he bragged that at 74 when he looks into the mirror his is the face of the future that stares back at him.

Increasingly the Bahamian public is coming to view Sears as a transformative leader who will actually take the party and the country across the bridge that Christie keeps saying he has been busy building.

A few years ago our friends in Alaska were promised a grand bridge to connect to an offshore island. Hundreds of millions of dollars were allocated and there was much fanfare.  But then the details began to emerge. Only 50 people lived on the island, home to an airport that handled less than 300 passengers a day. Just like Christie's figurative bridge to tomorrow, it was a boondoggle.

Renaissance man Sears speaks softly but he carries a big stick. He is smart. He is articulate. He has confidence. He has ideas. He has integrity. But does he have what it really takes to dislodge Christie: money?

If the leadership race is a contest of ideas, he'll win. If it is really about who has the best plans to move the country forward, Sears all the way. If it is a popularity contest open to all Bahamians, Christie will be slaughtered.

This is an internal PLP affair. But a stealth contender can use the by-laws and constitution of the party to his advantage. Convention is the only time the party is obliged to use secret ballots. And only the post of leader requires 51 percent of the votes to win. The bar is lower for other party officers, meaning Christie has a higher hurdle to jump.

These are Christie's rules and to win Sears will have to outsmart him at his own game. That requires cunning and money... lots of both. As a lawyer in private practice Sears has represented deep-pocketed clients in the past and it remains to be seen just how heavily he will lean on them to support his campaign.

Already he is winning in the court of public opinion that believes Sears' largesse makes him the first serious contender to take on Christie. The prime minister may have indeed stacked the deck by installing a trailer-load of stalwart councilors, branch representatives and friendly union members.

If we see dirty tricks from the PM's camp then it means Alfred is making headway with the delegates. They will try to block his nomination for a winnable seat. They will nitpick about the rules. They will crucify him by innuendo and sip-sip.

But win or lose there can be no mistake that in just putting his name on the ballot as a serious challenger to Christie, Alfred Sears has begun to transition the party from a cult of personality book-cased by the Pindling-Christie era into a new generation of progressive politics and liberal ideology befitting the PLP at its best.
Repeat after me, Christie: "Oah!".

- The Graduate

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