Lawyer Raynard Rigby emerged the new chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party with 543 votes over former PLP vice-chairman Ron Rolle’s 182.
Following his loss, Mr Rolle told the press that Cabinet ministers influenced the delegates’ votes.
Attorney and Nassau Guardian columnist Rigby, who replaces out-going Chairman, and Minister of Works and Utilities, Bradley Roberts, however, welcomed the win.
Speaking with The Guardian last night, Minister Roberts said that he was not surprised that Mr. Rigby won the post, acknowledging that he supported him in his campaign.
“Of the two contenders, Rigby was far the best, and I am sure that he will take the Party to the next level,” he said.
When asked whether Cabinet ministers did influence delegates to vote for Mr. Rigby, Minister Roberts said both Mr. Rolle and Mr. Rigby had their share of supporters among parliamentarians.
“Each Parliament leader was entitled to support whoever they wanted to support. Many of Rolle’s supporters came from parliament leaders. That is the end of the equation. Parliament leaders can support whomever they want,” he added.
Mr. Rigby said: “Ron Rolle was a formidable opponent. He planned a very tight campaign. He has immense experience on the convention floor and so I expected a tight race.”
A Kennedy delegate admitted to The Guardian that several Cabinet ministers told them to vote for Mr. Rigby.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the delegate said: “They told me to vote for the other person (Rigby) because they said that he was the better choice.”
The delegate added that the Cabinet minister said that she should not vote for Mr. Rolle because of his “personal issues.”
The delegate explained that the reason they voted for Mr. Rolle was because he proved to be a “man for the party.”
“He brought the Kennedy Sub-branch from nothing. I think he would have done a great job. Cabinet ministers should have stayed out of it. I think it is unethical because he played a very important role in the party,” the Kennedy delegate said.
“It’s a shame that someone (Rolle) has been drudging and drudging for such a long while, and then someone (Rigby) comes from out of the blue and BAM! The chairman’s post is gone,” the Kennedy delegate added.
Mr. Rolle was appointed PLP vice-chairman in 1998, and in 2000 he was appointed vice-chairman of branches.
The Kennedy representative added that the political party should have appointed Mr. Rigby instead of staging a “pointless” election.
Another delegate said Mr. Rolle should have pulled out of the race when the elections against Mr. Rigby transformed into “an election against the PLP party.”
The delegate added: “That’s deep politics.”
Upon his victory, Mr. Rigby said that his first goal would be to build and strengthen the political party.
“The first thing that must be done would be getting an accurate assessment of where the Party is,” he said. “There’s a difference as to how branches should be formulated. So, the first thing is to assess where we are as a branch, party in terms of our organisations.”
Mr. Rigby said that he could accomplish this goal through his strength and communication with Family Islanders. After visits to Bimini, Exuma, Mangrove Cay, Harbour Island and Grand Bahama, Mr. Rigby said, his popularity has grown.
“Obviously Mr. Rolle is popular throughout The Bahamas because of his work in the party, so I was lagging behind in that regard,” he said.
He then stressed that former PLP chairmen’s role was to attract and keep the party’s supporters. The new role he said would be to continue doing that, while building the party and moving forward.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
