The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

cnixon@tribunemedia.net

THE Free National Movement officially launched its 2012 election candidates last night at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino.

Supporters gathered in the packed hall as sitting FNM parliamentarians passed the baton to the next generation of FNM leaders.

Formally presenting the party’s full slate of candidates, Mr Ingraham said he is proud to introduce the FNM 2012 election team that can be trusted to put Bahamians first and deliver what the country needs.

“Our team,” he said, “is one of an extraordinary diversity of talent and accomplishments, of seasoned and tested hands and youthful energy. This team represents some of the best of the Bahamian imagination.

“Our FNM team will out match, out perform and out work the PLP any and every day when it comes to leadership. And, this is what this election is all about – leadership.”

Current MPs who have passed on the torch include Brent Symonette, MP for St Anne's (cabinet minister); Earl Deveaux, MP for Marathon (cabinet minister); Larry Cartwright, MP for Long Island (cabinet minister); Ken Russell, MP for High Rock; Verna Grant, MP for Eight Mile Rock, and Kendal Wright, MP Clifton.

The new faces of the FNM officially introduced last night included John Bostwick for Bain’s Town and Grant’s Town; Caron Shepherd for Englerston; Monique Gomez for South Beach; Ella Lewis for Centreville; Cassius Stuart for Bamboo Town; Winsome Miller for Golden Gates; Heather Hunt for Marathon; Basil Moss for Nassau Village; Darron Cash for Carmichael; Karen Butler for Tall Pines; Dr Duane Sands for Elizabeth; Shonel Ferguson for Fox Hill; Richard Lightbourne for Montagu; Hubert Chipman for St Anne’s; Peter Turnquest for East Grand Bahama; Norris Bain for Marco City; Pakesia Edgecombe for West Grand Bahama and Bimini; Michael Pintard, Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Howard Johnson for Central and South Eleuthera; Theo Nelly for North Eleuthera, and Ronald Bosfield for Mangrove Cay and South Andros.

Six sitting members of parliament will be seeking election in new constituencies.

They include: Current Carmichael MP Desmond Bannister, who will be running in North Andros; current MP for South Beach Phenton Neymour, who will be running in Exuma and Ragged Island; current MP for Montagu Loretta Butler-Turner, who will be running in Long Island; current Blue Hills MP Sidney Collie, who will be running in MICAL, and current Kennedy MP Kenyatta Gibson, who will be running in Southern Shores.

Mr Ingragam said election day is near and the choice is clear. “We are the party of accountability and transparency,” he said. “We are the governing Party that the people can trust. We are dedicated to making life better for Bahamians of all walks of life – we are the FNM and we deliver.”

Listing the government’s many accomplishments over the last five years, from the new cargo port at Arawak Cay, the Road Infrastructure programme and the new Straw Market to the A&E Department and new operating theatres at the Rand Hospital and new Central Abaco power plant in the Family Islands, Mr Ingraham said the FNM Manifesto 2012 will encapsulate the blue print for 2012-2017 which will further advance a 21st century Bahamas.