The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Dr Andre Rollins has moved to quell speculation that he is preparing a challenge to Michael Pintard for leadership of the Free National Movement, saying he has made no decision to enter the race.

Dr Rollins addressed the latest speculation after a flyer circulated on social media suggesting he intended to seek the FNM leadership.

“I would like to state categorically, for the record,” Dr Rollins said, “that I did not sanction the flyer and have made no such decision.”

He said he would continue to recognise and respect Mr Pintard as the FNM’s leader while working to strengthen and unify the party.

His intervention comes as questions over Mr Pintard’s future have followed the FNM’s defeat in the May 12 general election, when the party won eight seats. Mr Pintard became the first Opposition leader in nearly three decades to lead his party into a general election and fail to win.

The leadership debate sharpened this month when former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham urged the FNM to “find someone who could win”, telling supporters that the party needed leadership capable of inspiring voters.

Mr Pintard subsequently pushed back at Mr Ingraham, saying the former prime minister chose the wrong setting to raise the issue, but acknowledged that the party must determine whether its leader can return it to government. He maintained that he believes he remains the best person to lead the FNM.

Former FNM deputy chairman Michael Turnquest has since argued that the party’s next leader may have to come from outside the Opposition benches, saying a change at the top should represent a genuine break rather than merely replacing one familiar parliamentary figure with another.

Speculation has surrounded deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright and East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson, while interest in Dr Rollins has grown following his contributions in the House of Assembly. None has publicly declared an intention to seek the leadership.

Dr Rollins returned to Parliament in May as the FNM MP for Long Island after nearly a decade outside the House. His first parliamentary stint began in 2012 when he was elected in Fort Charlotte on the PLP ticket.

His relationship with the Christie administration later deteriorated dramatically.

In 2014, Dr Rollins resigned as PLP whip amid disagreements over proposed constitutional amendments and was later fired as chairman of the Gaming Board after sharply criticising Mr Christie’s leadership and calling for new political leadership.

He quit the PLP in June 2015 after a contentious parliamentary sitting in which government members sought to prevent him from contributing to the budget debate. Five months later, he crossed the floor and joined the FNM.

But his relationship with the FNM leadership also became turbulent.

In 2016, Dr Rollins became one of the most vocal parliamentary critics of Dr Minnis and was among seven Opposition MPs who signed a petition asking the Governor General to remove Dr Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition and appoint then Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner in his place.

Dr Rollins argued at the time that Dr Minnis lacked the leadership required to take the country forward. Dr Minnis nevertheless retained control of the FNM and went on to lead the party to a landslide victory in the 2017 general election. Dr Rollins was not an FNM candidate in that election. His return to Parliament this year has again placed him in the national political spotlight. In June, he clashed with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis in the House while pressing him over whether public funds or money connected to government members were paying the legal fees of convicted drug trafficker Jonathan Eric Gardiner.

For now, however, Dr Rollins has stopped short of joining the debate over who should lead the FNM into the next election.

He said his focus remains on the party under its existing leader.

“I will continue to recognise and respect our existing leader, Mr Michael Pintard,” Dr Rollins said, “as I continue to do all that I can to promote the strengthening and unification of our party.”