PLP Senator Does About Face

Senator Fritzgerald appeared as a guest on the Love 97 talk show Issues Of The Day with host Algernon Allen on Tuesday as he sought to clear the air.

In fact, the fiery Opposition senator said he fully stands behind his leader’s decision to seek reelection in 2012, despite recent media reports suggesting otherwise.

"Perry Christie is the leader of the PLP," he said. "I support him as the leader and I will be supporting him in this upcoming convention. The point is this, if people listened and if you read the newspapers, I made it very clear that I will support Mr. Christie until such time as he decides to step down."

"I do not support any group or anyone trying to overthrow the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party. I don’t think that is the way to go in the best interest of the party and what I was really talking about was the best interest of the party."

During an earlier appearance on Issues Of The Day, Senator Fritzgerald spoke of the need for younger leaders who could put forth new ideas and suggested that while both Mr. Christie and Prime Minister and leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) Hubert Ingraham have served the country well, they should not vie for reelection.

At that time he said: "The point I am making to you, is that I think that moving forward it would be a mistake for Mr. Ingraham or for Mr. Christie to put themselves forward to run in the next elections. I think as far as the Bahamian public is concerned, that would be something that moving forward, would not be in their best interest at this time."

"They have served their time and have served the country extremely well and have done so with a degree of courage and commitment and sacrifice, probably well beyond what was expected of them. The point has now come where I think the parties themselves, the FNM and the PLP, have to look within themselves to decide whether or not the public will accept them in moving forward."

These comments prompted FNM Chairman Johnley Ferguson to lash out at the senator and even called for him to be fired for making such comments.

But Senator Fritzgerald fired back, saying he would continue to offer constructive criticism to the government.

Yesterday, however, Senator Fritzgerald threw his support behind his leader and added that as it is now, Mr. Christie’s track record speaks for itself, adding that he has proven himself to a capable leader of the PLP.

"The leader has sufficient support within the party to win on the convention floor. He is still extremely popular and you have to consider that even though we lost the last election, Mr. Christie did a lot with regard to the development of the country," he said.

"He is a visionary leader and he had his vision set out for the country and he followed that. Unfortunately, at the end of the day that wasn’t promoted properly and people didn’t get the full impact of it. And now that we’re now able to compare, I think people are better able now to judge the impact that his leadership had."

Senator Fritzgerald said Mr. Christie sacrificed a lot and likened his leader to U.S. President Barack Obama who often speaks about a vision for his people.

He added that despite what many might believe Mr. Christie is not a "weak leader."

"Some people confuse what leadership really is," Senator Fritzgerald added. "To them leadership might be a dictator, now for me, that’s not leadership. Leadership for me is someone who has a vision, communicates that vision and then is able to convince those around him to buy into that vision and move forward to execute it."

"If you use the definition that I use and that I understand, when you compare Mr. Ingraham to Mr. Christie, to me, it really is (Mr. Christie) hands down, as far as leadership is concerned."