The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

BRANVILLE McCartney, Democratic National Alliance leader, has branded the official opposition as virtually nonexistent following recent public disagreements among party executives.

Responding to a question over whether the Free National Movement (FNM) was doing a good job in keeping the government accountable on national issues, Mr McCartney said he viewed the party as being in disarray.

“We don’t have an official opposition,” he said, “the official opposition seems to be in disarray, divided, speaking in five different tongues and they seem to be mis-stepping just as the PLP. The only opposition you have is the DNA.”

Last evening, FNM Chairman Darron Cash responded saying that Mr McCartney was fixated with the FNM.

He said: “Mr McCartney spoke today about supposed division in the FNM. He should know what that means. As a political neophyte Mr McCartney was plucked from obscurity by Hubert Ingraham and made a big man in the FNM.

“He left the FNM in a huff and puff because (former Prime Minister) Hubert Ingraham refused to let him run his government. Mr McCartney simply refused to pay his dues. He was a rookie and still insisted that everything had to be his way. He could not have his own way and like a spoiled child he continues to harbour hurt feelings and resentment against the people he felt denied him his due.

“Finally, the difference between Mr McCartney and the people in the FNM whom he accuses of being ‘divided’ is that they know how to ‘stick and stay’ and work out their differences. They will not do as he did. They will not walk away and say ‘it is my way or the highway.’ Mr McCartney can learn a lot from the FNMs he criticises.”

Recently, it appeared to the public that there might have been infighting in the FNM, especially after The Tribune broke news that Dr Minnis was not in support of Mrs Butler-Turner’s efforts to organise a march over allegations that Prime Minister Perry Christie abused his power.

Mrs Butler-Turner said Mr Christie abused his power when he called the managing director of a bank and stopped VAT co-ordinator Ishmael Lightbourne’s home from being repossessed and urged struggling homeowners to join her and the FNM in a peaceful protest.

However, when contacted, Dr Minnis told The Tribune that the march was not “an FNM sanctioned event and had nothing to do with the party.”

Later, Mrs Butler-Turner denied that there was a rift between herself and Dr Minnis, despite him publicly distancing himself from the event. For months before that the leaders had reportedly been at odds, with party insiders saying that in most instances there is little to “no real communication” between the two.

However, Mrs Butler-Turner defended Dr Minnis’ comments saying he spoke with The Tribune before she had an opportunity to update him on her plans. In fact, she said, once she spoke to Dr Minnis a short time later, she not only received his full support, but also the support of her other Parliamentary colleagues.

Mrs Butler Turner said the matter was the result of a “miscommunication”, but admitted she would have handled it differently if she were Dr Minnis. The march was later postponed.