During the second night of the Progressive Liberal Party’s National Convention, PLP Leader Philip Davis stressed that the PLP is a party with democratic values and the results of the chairman election show that delegates supported his choice for Senator Fred Mitchell to become chairman.
“In this party, if you got something to say, you say it. You want to run, you run. That doesn’t mean a leader can’t have an opinion,” Mr. Davis said.
“PLPs, with your ballots, you showed you agreed with me on the best path forward, and I’m grateful. We had our vote, and we’re moving on now because we have big things to do together!”
His comments came after he asserted that he did not want anyone to contest his leadership team at this year’s convention.
Despite his request, former Cabinet Minister Obie Wilchcombe contested the chairmanship position against Mitchell but was unsuccessful.
Last week, Mr. Davis also expressed his doubts about Wilchcombe’s chances of winning the chairman position, but he did not stop him from running against Mitchell, who won by a landslide victory.
In his address to party supporters, Mr. Davis also noted that following the PLP’s defeat in the 2017 general election, the leadership team listened to the cries of the Bahamian people and made some much needed adjustments to the party.
“You said our party needed to be reinvigorated and so we have been reaching out, bringing in new voices, new energy and new ideas,” Mr. Davis said.
“After wide consultation and with the work of Raynard Rigby and his constitutional committee, at this convention, we’ve adopted new reforms to our constitution, making it more modern and strengthening the role that women and young people will play in the party.
“We’ve opened up who gets to vote and we’ve changed how we recruit, choose and support candidates, so that our party is more inclusive, more democratic, and more effective.”
Night two of the convention again saw a packed ballroom at the Melia Nassau Beach Resort with supporters spilling out into the foyer.
The party’s convention wrapped up with a prayer breakfast Saturday morning at the Melia.
