Former Member of Parliament for Fort Charlotte Alfred Sears said yesterday that he plans to challenge Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Perry Christie in the party’s upcoming convention in November.

Mr. Sears, who was recently ratified as the PLP’s candidate for Fort Charlotte several weeks ago, made the announcement in a press statement.

“I am both pleased and honoured to announce my intention to stand as a candidate for the position of leader of the PLP in the upcoming PLP convention scheduled for November 2016. I have notified the leadership of the party, the PLP Fort Charlotte Branch and the PLP Parliamentary Caucus of this intention to stand as a candidate in service to my party and by extension the Bahamian people,” he said.

“I hold fast to the fundamentals and philosophies, ideologies and principles upon which the Progressive Liberal Party was founded based on the core values of the PLP published in October 1953 and that is ‘the government is the servant of the people and not the people the servant of the government. Governance must be administered economically and effectively and must constantly strive to raise the standard of living for the people. Let us make servant leadership matter.”

Mr. Sears said he encourages PLPs and Bahamians to join him in his bid to recommit to the PLP’s core principles.

“I encourage us to be progressive and liberal in our political and social work, which helped usher in Majority Rule, expanded the middle class, education, increased professional and entrepreneurial opportunities and established a secure, social security system and protection of our citizens within and outside our boarders,” he said.

“Today we have new challenges, which require that we diversify our economy beyond Tourism and Financial Services. We must draw on the creative imagination of Bahamians and provide more opportunities for Bahamian ownership and entrepreneurship in order to improve our global, competitive position. We must inspire and provide a larger platform for young Bahamians to build a robust, cultural industry and expand the productive base of our economy.”

Mr. Sears is no stranger to government service.

He served as attorney general, minister of education, won two consecutive terms as MP for Fort Charlotte and served as Chairman of the Board to transform the College of The Bahamas into the University of The Bahamas.

“Serving as attorney general and minister of education, I learned the complexities of governance of our society; the challenges of addressing the concerns of working class Bahamians. Further, I gained a deeper appreciation of the urgent need to reform our governance process, better incentivize Bahamian entrepreneurship and extend public-private partnerships,” Mr. Sears said.

“Moreover, it became very apparent to me that true servant leadership and a paradigm shift are needed to ensure greater transparency and efficiency in government in order to achieve an improved quality of life for Bahamians and residents within the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

Mr. Sears’ announcement comes several weeks after Prime Minister Christie announced that he would remain leader of the PLP because he has mounting support, particularly from younger PLPs, who wish him to remain.

In recent weeks, a number of Mr. Christie’s Cabinet members have said that they support him as leader of the party, while critics like former PLP MP Philip Galanis have called Mr. Christie “delusional.”