Progressive Liberal Party Senator Fred Mitchell emerged victorious and held on to the party’s chairman position following the highly anticipated election against former Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
After some last minute campaigning, hours of voting and counting during the PLP’s National General Convention on Friday, Mitchell beat Wilchcombe – his only contender – by a landslide of nearly 500 votes.
Mitchell received 802 votes while Wilchcombe received 338 votes.
This allowed the PLP to enter its final night of convention with its full leadership team intact.
Nearing the end of the tallying, Senator Mitchell spoke to The Bahama Journal about his victory.
“It’s an election and there are highs and lows. I’m just pleased that the delegates saw the value of the work and its supported and I’m pleased that the team that I am a part of headed by Philip Brave Davis is returned in full so that we can continue the work that we’re doing,” he said.
“Many of the delegates have come and spoken to me about the way the campaign was conducted and they were pleased that I didn’t respond to anything that was said about me in a personal sense and that’s something that I believe fully. I refused to say anything.
“I think that’s how it ought to be because you’re trying to run a political party and a political party has to encompass everybody regardless of what they’re particular positions are within the party.”
Senator Mitchell told reporters of the value of this convention and that he’s enthusiastic about completing the work already started moving forward.
“One of the things that an internal opposition does is that it helps you to define who you are because you withstand some pretty withering criticisms and you have to understand pretty firmly what you are and what the organization is,” he said.
“So it’s been a healthy thing. I mean we would have rather not spend this money, and it’s been quite a financial expense for the leader of the party because it’s his responsibility to find the funding for something like this, but the benefit is that the party itself gets to redefine itself and then also it gets an opportunity to sing from the same hymn sheet and that’s the value of it.
“So we go away to our respective homes renewed and we all know what we all think about one another from across the country and so I look forward to continuing to work with everybody.”
This was a clear enough sign that delegates are pleased with the ‘Ride the Wave with Brave’ team of PLP Leader Philip Davis, Deputy Leader Chester Cooper and Chairman Fred Mitchell.
