The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

LINCOLN Bain’s Coalition of Independents has ratified 28 candidates since September 2024. The fringe political organisation’s Vision 2030 at the Fusion Superplex was well attended, drawing tens of thousands of views on Facebook and YouTube. And while these latest developments with the COI have little bearing on the Free National Movement, it does cause one to question when will the party officially name its standard bearers for the upcoming general election, which must be held no later than September 2026. That’s 18 months away.

FNM Leader Michael Pintard, I believe, is in a serious bind regarding the future of former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis in Killarney. Killarney is an FNM stronghold. You get the sense that with Minnis being in the House of Assembly, Pintard always has to keep an eye over his shoulder for the Killarney MP. While he did win the FNM leadership election at the party’s one day convention in June 2024 in convincing fashion, scoring 486 votes to Minnis’ paltry 163, it seems as if the current leadership team in place is on an interim basis. For the Minnis camp, Pintard’s convention win is not enough. That is the narrative being spun by those who are unwilling to accept Pintard’s leadership. This is especially the case since the West Grand Bahama and Bimini by-election in November 2023, when the FNM candidate lost to the PLP’s Kingsley Smith by 874 votes. It would appear that Minnisites were salivating over the FNM’s embarrassing loss just as much as the Smith campaign machinery, apparently not taking into consideration that area’s decades-old ties to the PLP.

FNM troublemakers are now disingenuously putting forward the names of Dr Duane Sands and Shanendon Cartwright as possible replacements for Pintard, despite the fact that the former isn’t even an MP. No one, to my knowledge, is suggesting that there’s a conspiracy within the Progressive Liberal Party to oust Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis as leader and replace him with either Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper or PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell. Outside of the tenure of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, it seems as if no FNM leader is safe, when it comes to his position within the party, owing to the many alleged cutthroats within the party. What has transpired over the past 13 years within the FNM now brings to light the reason Ingraham ruled the party with an iron-fist. He had to, in order to keep the FNM rebels at bay.

This atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity within the current FNM breathes mistrust and disunity. A leader must have the faith of his party officers and Parliamentary caucus that they are all standing behind him. Unfortunately for Pintard, this solidarity does not exist within the FNM. He is always on the docket being subjected to harsh scrutiny by individuals hellbent on undermining his leadership. The elephant in the room for Pintard is what to do with Minnis, who isn’t going anywhere. Minnis remains very unpopular nationally, yet has a strong base of support among FNMs. Any attempt to sideline Minnis would automatically alienate his base, who number in the thousands. In a recent Tribune article concerning former Democratic National Alliance Branville McCartney on The Rundown with Clint Watson, McCartney voiced his support for Minnis being given the nod in Killarney, despite his refusal to subject himself to a training module.

In the same article, an FNM council member, who supports Minnis, warned that she has four votes in her house. I interpret her veiled threat that if Minnis is denied a nomination, her four votes won’t be going to the FNM. For the Minnis camp, this entire training procedure is beneath him as a former Prime Minister and a sitting MP of nearly 18 years. If Minnis remains adamant in not submitting to Pintard in this regard, will Pintard deny him a nomination? If Minnis is rejected by the FNM leadership, then the party must be prepared to lose Killarney. I don’t believe the FNM is strong enough to win Killarney without Minnis, who will most certainly run as an independent candidate. Despite his unpopularity as competent authority under the emergency orders during the COVID-19 health crisis, Minnis still managed to stave off his PLP challenger, Ronnie Duncombe, by winning 2,501 or 51 percent of the votes cast. Only 4,881 or 69 percent of the 7,112 registered voters participated in the 2021 general election in Killarney. This would then mean that Minnis only got an abysmal 35.17 percent of the votes from the 7,112 registered voters. I am convinced that hardworking, productive MPs such as Dionisio D’Aguilar and Travis Robinson were partly punished at the polls because of Minnis’ unpopularity. Winning 35 seats in 2017, the FNM lost a staggering 28 seats in 2021.

The FNM had little alternative but to make drastic changes to its leadership. This is a reality that the Minnis camp is unwilling to accept. Having said that, I believe Pintard should just bite the bullet and run his predecessor if he is unwilling to lose Killarney. An independent Minnis in Killarney will only pave the way for a PLP candidate to win that constituency with very little resistance. If Pintard values Minnis’ absence from the House of Assembly more than winning Killarney, then he should just come out and state that Minnis will not be on the FNM ticket. This decision could mean the difference between being in opposition for another five years or winning the government. In an ideal world, Minnis would announce in a nationally televised press conference that he fully supports Pintard and will be retiring from frontline politics ahead of the next general election. He would then urge his loyal supporters to throw their collective weight behind Pintard. But none of this will happen. Pintard is faced with the difficult task of fielding Minnis in Killarney, knowing full well that the former FNM leader is still harbouring thoughts of regaining his post within the party.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama.

March 10, 2025.