Will the PLP elect another woman leader?

We’ve had 12 years of PLP government and soon the party will be choosing a new leader. Question is, will it be a woman?

History shows that Dame Jennifer Smith took the PLP to victory not once, but twice. 

The record will also show the unprecedented mutiny on the same night of that second trip down victory lane, led by the man who “had to mislead us”. 

This marked the start of in-house leadership wrangling that to me appeared to amount to nothing more than testosterone on overdrive — driven by an attitude that still prevails today; the “we don’t want a woman leader” mentality. And with the pending election of a new Premier, we could be right back to square one.

The Deputy Leader of the PLP is a woman and she’s the frontrunner, despite anything else you might have heard. Public rancour would have you believe it’s off with the head for the head of government finance, the keeper of the public’s purse and the source of the ‘cog in the wheel’ author.

But the fact remains that choosing the next leader of the country is not up to the public, it’s up to the PLP delegates.  And as party insiders know all too well — that’s a whole different ballgame.  Only this time there’s some backstabbing history on the books.

They remember the rebel 11 clan who crept behind closed doors to overthrow the woman at the helm. It will be interesting to see the jostling of that same rebel clan - two of whom supported Dr. Brown’s bid, only to bail on him later. It happened right after the secret mission that landed Guantanamo Bay refugees on our shores. 

Included among them is the current Minister of Education who quit his post with the likes of Terry Lister and Dale Butler, when they parted ways with the incumbent. Now both Lister and Butler want to take the Premier’s place when he steps down. The same man they hailed as the Messiah is no longer on their list of favourites.

It leads me to question their judgement of character. I have yet to hear why they had a change of heart. I remember how they hailed Dr. Brown as the man who would lift the country to higher heights. I remember his speech the night he took the top post from Alex Scott (the one Premier who came forward with a social agenda). 

Where’s that agenda now?  Our young black men have been left out of the country’s agenda and continue to shoot, maim and kill one another. Sure it’s a small segment, but how long do you think it will stay that way?

I am reminded of the speech Dr. Brown made to party delegates that night. He asked “Are we better off than we were three years ago?” Here we are in 2010 and we can all see who’s better off in his clan.

My question is,  ‘what about the rest?’ Leadership is not just about party, it’s about the entire country. Now two of his loyalists-turned-defectors want to be where he is.  What changed? I have yet to hear about a national plan — a vision for us all moving forward. Dale Butler and Terry Lister supported Brown’s takeover of the party and then changed their minds. What happened? And why should I trust either one of them?

From where I sit, Dr. Brown started his push for power three years into a PLP Government that took 30 years to become a reality. On the night of his second takeover bid he took 11 of my party MPs out of the second victory celebration with my fellow constituents to plot in a back room to take over the helm. Premier Scott’s social agenda went out with him. Escalating crime and gun violence took a turn for the worse on his watch. And still no real action to improve the lot of all of us rather than the chosen few. 

Dr. Brown said he wanted the post for one term. What exactly has he done for the entire country in three years? He promised to boost tourism — he didn’t. He promised to build hotels — he didn’t. (He did a great job at blowing one up; couple that with that massive hole in the ground where Sonesta/Wyndham used to be and now we have two big eyesores). But he did give us a million dollar booty dance by Beyonce so I guess we should all be grateful.

He promised to improve the taxi industry — we got GPS and still can’t get a cab. He promised to deal with traffic — what we got is bigger trucks and limousine service.

When I look at his two former loyalists vying for his position I see two men looking to run the country like it’s a hobby. If I was a betting person I’d put my last dollar down to bet the accountant will say he’ll manage the accounts better. What he won’t say is he and Butler sat quietly in Cabinet and never opposed their Messiah — they need to remember that when they start pointing fingers at Paula Cox.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — silence equals consent! And I am still left to wonder where they stand on the gender issue.

I’ll be examining this further in Part 2.