The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Critics and naysayers of FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis are becoming restless with him because there will not be a convention held in the two years since he was elected leader on Saturday, May 26, 2012, at a one-day convention held at the Holy Trinity Activities Centre in Stapledon Gardens.

Minnis was elected unopposed. Loretta Butler-Turner was elected deputy leader after besting former FNM Senators Desmond Bannister and the Rev Frederick McAlpine and former FNM candidate Gladys Johnson-Sands. The late FNM MP Charlie Maynard was elected party chairman after defeating Senator Carl Bethel, who was the incumbent. Dr Duane Sands and Darron Cash were both elected deputy chairmen.

According to the critics of Minnis, a convention must be held within every two years.

This is constitutionally mandated, they say. We are already in the middle of April with May 26 fast approaching, which will mark the second anniversary of Minnis’ leadership. If there is a convention being planned by the party hierarchy, it will obviously not be held within the two year timeframe of Minnis’ succession to the leadership post.

Critics of Minnis believe that he is intentionally stalling on not setting a date for a convention, as an announcement for a convention would sound the death knell on his leadership. These people are confident Minnis will lose to Butler-Turner, in the event she throws her hat into the ring. So far, it looks like the only threat to Minnis is Butler-Turner. There has been some chatter about former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham unretiring in order to contest Minnis for the leadership post. I believe these rumours are unfounded.

And besides, the FNM lost badly with Ingraham as leader in 2012. The FNM only managed to win a grand total of nine seats to the PLP’s 29. The PLP added one more seat when it captured the North Abaco seat in the 2012 by-election between Renardo Curry and Greg Lewis. In their unreasonable opposition to Minnis, his critics seem to have forgotten all this. I have heard a few other names being called as potential challengers to Minnis. The majority of them, however, are not in active politics.

Some may conjecture that the reason the FNM leader has not called for a convention within the constitutionally mandated two-year period is because of the anemic state of the economy and the party’s own financial challenges. I remember Ingraham saying during the 2012 campaign that the FNM was in debt to the tune of $1m.

Still, Minnis’ critics are adamant that, notwithstanding the sorry state of the economy, the party can at least hold a mini convention without all the glitter and glamour that FNMs are accustomed to seeing at large conventions. As much as I hate to admit this, I am of the view that these critics are right. I believe Minnis should set the wheels in motion for a convention later in the year. He should call for a convention and let the chips fall where they may. I think Minnis will be able to stave off any challenger to his post, including Butler-Turner. Such a victory would not only validify his hold on the leadership post, but it will also silence his critics.

In the event Minnis wins and these people continue to murmur over his leadership, then one can only surmise that there is something else at play here. It would prove that Minnis’ critics are not really as concerned about him honouring the FNM’s constitution as they are of seeing the back of him.

In the final analysis, Minnis really has nothing to lose in an FNM convention, believe it or not. If he retains his post, that will not be breaking news, as this is expected to happen. But if he loses, then at least he will not have the burden of leading a party with a purportedly large faction of FNMs who don’t mean him well and would do anything within their power to derail his campaign in 2017. I think the FNM leader may have already come to terms with the sobering fact that these people simply don’t like him.

When pressed to give one valid reason why they oppose Minnis as leader, his critics struggle to come up with one reasonable answer. They oppose him just for the sake of opposing. Or could it be that they are jealous of him because he won his Killarney seat pretty much on his own in convincing fashion and has a successful medical practice? Be that as it may, Minnis should throw down the gauntlet by accepting any challenge to his post by calling for a convention. If nothing else, a victory for him, while not endearing him to his unreasonable critics, will at the very least validify his position as leader.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

April 13, 2014.