The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard has done something that former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis was unable to do during his tumultuous tenure in office: heal old wounds - many of which were inflicted between 2012 and 2021. That Pintard has been successful in getting disillusioned and former FNMs Darron Cash, Richard Lightbourn, Hubert Chipman, Reece Chipman and former Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest back into the FNM fold is a testament of his uncanny ability to bring about reconciliation, unity and healing. I was surprised to read that FNM stalwarts Italia Johnson and Alvin Smith, as well as Kenyatta Gibson and Cassius Stuart were in attendance at Pintard’s successful Endorsement Night event last week. In The Nassau Guardian article on the Pintard event the name Halson Moultrie, who locked horns with the Minnis administration was well documented, was referenced. It would appear that Pintard has also extended an olive branch to Moultrie.

Yet another long-serving FNM stalwart who became disillusioned with Minnis and the FNM hierarchy mentioned in the aforementioned Nassau Guardian article really stood out to me due to disturbing allegations of maltreatment inflicted on him by the party he was a loyal member of for over four decades. The FNM stalwart is none other than Mr Neko Grant, who served in the House of Assembly as the MP for the Central Grand Bahama/Lucaya constituency from 1992 to 2021. Grant, in a statement, spoke of his affiliation with the FNM way back in 1974 when the party was just four years old. It was not safe being an FNM in the early stages of its existence, as many black Bahamians began to view Sir Lynden O Pindling as a god. This cult of personality was in full display at an FNM rally in Lewis Yard, Grand Bahama in November 1970, when Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield and Maurice Moore were violently assaulted by about ten anti-FNM goons. I recall Grant being a member of the Seven FNM Rebels who petitioned then Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling to remove Minnis as official Opposition Leader in Parliament in 2016. I also recall hearing news of Grant assisting the Progressive Liberal Party’s campaign in the lead-up to the 2017 general election, which underscored the deep rift between him and Dr Minnis. That Grant would actively campaign against his own party should have given FNMs in the Minnis camp pause for thought. The timeframe Grant gives corresponds with the alleged maltreatment meted out to him by his own party.

Pintard reaching out to Grant during the tenure of the Minnis administration is a demonstration of his commitment to reconciliation. The current FNM Leader obviously did not forget Grant’s invaluable contributions to the party. It is unfortunate that members of the Minnis camp were all too willing to relegate Grant to the political scrapyard without a second thought. At the time of the Loretta Butler-Turner rebellion, I sided with Minnis. Hindsight being 20/20, it is now looking like the Rebel Seven had legitimate reasons for opposing Minnis. If nothing else, the fallouts between Minnis and so many long-serving FNMs are ironclad proof that Minnis struggles, at least from my vantage point, to get along with far too many members of his own team. There have been far too many spats with him at the helm of the FNM.

If you cannot get along with important members of your own party -- to the degree of alienating them -- what legitimate shot do you have in convincing swing voters to support you at the polls? It is disconcerting that a vintage FNM like Neko Grant could suffer victimisation by the party he had risked his career and life for. If Grant can be treated in such a shoddy manner, what would happen to nominal FNMs? The Grant allegations are indeed damning. The best thing for the FNM at this juncture would be to stick with Pintard. I have nothing against Minnis, but he has created far too many enemies within his own party. Pintard, on the other hand, has done an excellent job in wooing these wounded FNMs back into the fold, Grant being one of them.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama

May 26, 2024.