n two days time, the leadership of the Progressive Labour Party will probably change. Certainly the polls have indicated that this will be the case.

What are the choices facing the delegates and Members of Parliament who collectively have the power to bring about change? What are the uncertainties that dominate the hopes and dreams of the delegates? What are the factors influencing the choices upon which there is agreement as well as disagreement? Which will dominate?

As is the case in most elections, the choices are usually clear, but not to the same extent for everyone. For the existing Premier, the Hon. Alexander Scott, there is the aura of the incumbent. This may be understood as some sort of mystique that surrounds every ruler. It is a quality that exists apart from himself. It is attached to the Premiership independently and moves from Premier to Premier. It is the sense of power. The Premier appoints and removes the cabinet independently. He can influence substantially all appointments to boards and committees; he can change the contents of ministries and the assignments of his cabinet. This power goes with the position no matter who controls it. Mr. Scott holds these powers but has used them sporadically. His movement of Cabinet Ministers seldom has been in response to the need to get a more able minister into a particular cabinet position with the notable exception of the Sen. David Burch.

The Premier is the face of the party. He has to explain what is taking place and why the electorate should keep supporting his party. This is particularly difficult when the party is not performing particularly well as has been the case too many times in recent years. Still, Mr. Scott can be depended upon to change the focus of the electorate by introducing a new initiative or a new aspect of an existing initiative. This has been the case with the Social Agenda and the aspect of that initiative which has been named Sustainable Development. However, one does not get a sense from Mr. Scott?s statements that there has been real change.

As the challenger to the party leadership, the Dr. Ewart Brown holds no claim upon any aura except that of his own charismatic personality. People are quickly attracted to the good Doctor and his bedside manner no doubt cultivated from decades practising medicine. At least that is what one would assume, if they did not know his father and uncles on the Brown side and his mother and uncles on the Pearman side. These are families noted for producing charming personalities.

However, apart from his charisma, Dr. Brown has a long and outstanding record of getting people to follow him. And, as a professor in business once assured a stunned class, ?the real quality of a leader is that he can get people to follow him?. This is one unmistakable quality that Dr. Brown possesses that enables him to get things done when he promises.

Dr. Brown is also successful in getting followers because of his willingness to put himself on the line for what he believes in. He demonstrated this willingness by his readiness to join Bermuda?s Black Berets in street demonstrations before a marked police presence; he demonstrated this in Howard University by leading demonstrations against the administration although he was putting at risk a career as a medical student; he showed this by leading the Ministry of Transport to purchase the fast ferries that had long been fancied; he illustrated this by taking the Ministry of tourism to heights that caused the Premier to admit, that recently deceased Minister David Allen only dreamed about. Dr. Brown gets it done.

The major choice for the delegates is between a man who gets it done and one who talks about getting it done.

Of course uncertainties will dominate the minds of many delegates about each candidate. For Dr. Brown, they are labelled distrust. For the Mr. Scott they are labelled ineffective.

Dr. Brown?s unquestioned ability to get things done is casually dismissed by some delegates because of two statements: firstly, ?We misled you? pronounced at the Special Delegates Conference is 2003 that resulted in the removal of Dame Jennifer Smith. The second was stated by him some six or seven months ago that he would not be seeking the leadership. The former was the admission that the PLP MPs had pretended that everything was alright before the election of 2003 in order to put on a good front to win the election. The fact that not only Dr. Brown but all the other previously disgruntled MPs picked up the fight immediately after the election was completed showed the depth of their disdain for the existing leader. This should not have surprised anyone since she Premier held her seat by a mere eight votes after winning it by a huge majority in the election year of 1998. Clearly, the victory in 2003 was achieved with little or no respect for the existing leader.

Dr. Brown?s change of mind at seeking the leadership is regarded in some circles as dishonesty. I can only say that people who hold this view certainly are not watchers of elections elsewhere. At the moment, many Americans are stating that they would like Senator Hillary Clinton to contest the next presidential election. Sen. Clinton is saying that she is not interested. However, she will be watching carefully her position in the polls and if her chances look good, she also will change her mind. Was the support for Dr. Brown increasing according to the polls? I would utter a resounding yes! If this was not the case, than how does one explain how he could announce he was challenging the leadership only two weeks before the Delegates Conference and race instantly to the top of the polls?

The uncertainty facing the delegates is whether Dr. Brown?s ?so-called dishonesty? affected his ability to get the job done? For this, everyone agrees ? and I mean everyone ? that this is not the case. Has Mr. Scott shown any particular skill in resolving some of the vexing issues facing him? Many, if not most, do not feel that this is the case,

Curiously, Dr. Brown receives support from the members of the white community in far larger numbers than one would have expected. Richer whites, usually businessmen, support Dr. Brown because he gets things done. They look at his Health Care centre and realise that this is a man who dreams big and acts on his dream. Lower income whites know that Dr. Brown improved their chances of good health care by being the first to bring in an open MRI machine and thereby enable the claustrophobic and persons with other health issues to the best possible diagnoses.

Delegates face a strange dilemma. Should they urge Dr. Brown to stay with tourism because he is doing such a good job in the Ministry? In which case must they also conclude that Hon. Mr. Alexander Scott deserves the Leadership because he did such a bad job in the Ministry of Works and Engineering? In the major Democratic countries of this world such as the United States, the criteria for Leaders of the Country is that you have done a magnificent job in a lesser role. Dr. Brown certainly meets this qualification.

When the delegates meet tomorrow, there is one over-riding consideration that they need to keep in mind.

?What is the new level that everyone seems to think that Bermuda is entering?? In my view, it is about the level we will reach when the new office blocks and apartment blocks come on line. This means on the one hand that the building boom will subside and a massive increase in the industries of International Finance and tourism will commence to take place. This will require investment in the quality of the school plant and teachers; in the long ignored training of Bermudians in the skills required to staff our major industries; and in the transformation of the infrastructure to accommodate this change. With respect to the infrastructure, we are talking about roads, transportation and utilities. What better man to lead this revolution than a man who not only gets things done but has considerable experience in the management of the things that most need doing? Dr. Brown is of course that man. He is the best man to inspire and motivate management and staff of the civil service to carry out the same things he wishes for himself and all Bermudians ? to be the best they can be.