The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY 450 Free National Movement delegates will cast votes in the party’s convention today to choose representatives across 51 positions, including that of leader, deputy leader and party chairman.

The highly anticipated event, which will shape the public image and internal functioning of the party for at least another two years, will take place at Holy Trinity’s Convention Centre beginning at 8:30am.

Party conventions are typically high tension affairs.

This year, the convention’s morning session, which will involve nominations for the position of leader, deputy leader, chairman, secretary general and treasurer, will be closed to members of the press and public.

Voting is expected to start at noon and will last for about two hours.

Subsequently, two to three hours will be spent counting votes, with an announcement of results expected by 6pm.

Regarding the major positions being contested, current FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis will compete against current deputy leader Loretta Butler-Turner for the party’s top post.

Current party chairman Darron Cash, deputy chairman Dr Duane Sands and East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest will vie for the deputy leader’s post.

Former State Minister for the Environment Phenton Neymour and FNM Senator Michael Pintard will contest the chairman’s position.

“Convention is equivalent to an annual general meeting,” Dr Sands explained to The Tribune yesterday. “There is active verification of credentials. The first session is closed – only persons admitted will be those duly recognised and (with credentials) as delegates and party approved authorities. There will be an invocation at the opening session and the establishment and agreement of an agenda.

“At convention, there’s business that could only be conducted at conventions. Included in that will be the nomination and verification of new meritorious council members (MCMs). These are our party luminaries, and our constitution allows only for a specific number of MCMs. Unfortunately, we’ve had a number of such die recently. In order to elevate other party faithful to that group, therefore, we have conventions.”

He continued: “Obviously the most important part is the election of party officers. Nominations for all of the lower offices (such as trustees) closed last week. The offices of secretary general, treasurer, leader and chairman can be nominated from the (convention) floor. There is a formal process whereby those individuals will be nominated.

“We are aware of all likely candidates but there can be people nominated on the floor we don’t know about,” Dr Sands added. “(Former Prime Minister Hubert) Ingraham would’ve been nominated from the floor in 2005. Not only did he nominate himself, but he won. The possibility for a dark horse in every race is there, therefore.”

“After nominations have ended, once it is agreed that the process is closed, you then have to prepare ballots for voting. All of the credentialed delegates, and that includes representatives from each constituency office, MCMs, founding members, just under 450 delegates, authorised to vote, will prepare to vote as officials prepare ballots for all of those individuals nominated, and then once those ballots are prepared, voting begins.

“There’s a lot of excitement,” Dr Sands added. “On the floor there is a lot of caucusing going on or what we call horse trading: ‘You take care of my man, I take care of yours.’ After that we leave, we go and come back for the results.”

The most closely watched race will be that of leader.

This week Frank Watson, former deputy prime minister and a senior member of the FNM, said he expects the leadership race between Dr Minnis and Mrs Butler-Turner to be a close one.

Calling it difficult to predict, he told The Tribune: “I don’t expect a very wide margin. I expect both of them to have their groups (solidified).”