The Tribune

By Taneka Thompson

Tribune News Editor

AS the Free National Movement gears up for an internal battle royal at next month’s convention, what should be foremost on party members’ minds is not how to eliminate each other for an executive position, but what the party needs to do to win in 2017.

It’s nearly three years to the next election and already we see a party that is struggling at the seams, with many stealthily and openly jostling for power.

This is creating a fracture within the organisation that may not be repaired in time to present the united front needed for a successful general election campaign.

Many members of the electorate are frustrated with the current administration, partly because of its allergies to public disclosure and failing to produce on a litany of its grandiose campaign promises.

However, in the face of an often bumbling and disappointing government, many feel as though the official opposition is not much better.

Last week, the House of Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Hubert Chipman told a Nassau Guardian reporter that the group has met a disappointing three times since 2012. Mr Chipman is the FNM MP for St Anne’s.

The remaining opposition members in the group include East Grand Bahama MP K Peter Turnquest and Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn. Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson and Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder are the government’s representatives on the committee.

The group has the power to send for papers and can subpoena witnesses if necessary.

It is designed to audit areas of government spending and ensure public funds are not being wasted.

It is an effective and powerful tool in the opposition’s arsenal to keep the government’s feet to the fire if used wisely.

From what has been reported, the tool is not being used at all.

When the Progressive Liberal Party was in opposition, the PAC, headed by Bain and Grants Town MP Dr Bernard Nottage, picked apart the controversial New Providence Road Improvement Project. The PAC found that the project was grossly over-budget, by some tens of millions of dollars, and plagued by numerous setbacks.

The PLP was voracious while in opposition and seized upon the controversial project, using it as one of many methods to expose weaknesses in the FNM and help the party win in 2012.

There are numerous areas of government spending that need to be probed with a careful eye, including the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) and Urban Renewal to name two.

If the FNM seriously wants to be the next governing party, then it has to be serious while in opposition and use the options available to it to do the people’s work in that honourable place.

We all know how the last election played out.

Not only did the PLP sweep 29 out of 38 available seats in the House (the PLP now has 30 seats after winning North Abaco in a by-election) but the newly formed third party - the Democratic National Alliance - proved to be a spoiler for the FNM.

While the DNA did not capture any seats in Parliament, the party won more than 10,000 votes. In several key constituencies, the third party was able to siphon support away from the PLP and the FNM.

In Bamboo Town, DNA Leader Branville McCartney won over 1,000 votes, although he did not win his seat. DNA Deputy Leader Chris Mortimer won 800 votes in Nassau Village, losing to the PLP’s candidate Dion Smith who got 2,301 votes and the FNM’s contender Basil Moss, who got just over 1,500 votes. These are just a few examples.

It is likely that had the DNA not been a factor, the majority of these votes would have gone to the FNM’s candidates and perhaps tipped the election scales in the party’s favour.

Many want to explain away this phenomenon as a fluke. The country’s political graveyard is filled with the remains of many ‘wannabe’ parties, whose leaders and members quickly toss them by the wayside once they have caught the attention of the two juggernauts.

Some expect the DNA to do the same and disintegrate as soon as Mr McCartney returns to the FNM fold, which some political observers see as the only way for him to realise his dream of becoming prime minister. But the former Bamboo Town MP has held out in the wilderness this long and will likely produce a stronger showing at the polls next time. Since its formation the party has swelled to more than 30,000 members, according to Mr McCartney.

This support means the FNM should be worried about the DNA, a well-placed source within the FNM said.

“We have a number of outstanding issues that need to be resolved, like what happens to the competitive force called the DNA? Will those two forces unite (the FNM and DNA) and if so what does it look like?

“If the DNA continues to exist in the present form they will spoil a number of seats just like they did in the last election,” said a senior member of the FNM, who did not want to be named.

The FNM argued that a coalition between the DNA and the FNM is the best way for the official opposition to ensure that it wins the next election. However, the likelihood of this scenario playing out in real life is far-fetched.

But some in the party see it as its best and viable option to ousting the Christie administration.

“It depends on what that coalition looks like and it depends on whether you have to sell your soul to do it,” the FNM insider said, when asked if a DNA/FNM coalition could work.

“The question is whether you will stand on principal to the nth degree and remain in opposition until 2099 and your supporters have gone elsewhere. It’s a fluid thing; it demands that you continue to refocus.

“If the FNM isn’t strong enough on its own to guarantee a victory in 2017 then it needs to do some things to ensure that victory because the country cannot handle another five years of this crew.”

While some politicians, like Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell, are quick to downplay any possible threat from the DNA, there are others who recognise Mr McCartney’s political prowess and widespread public support.

“The fact that he has gotten as far as he has is the result of big money and there are people that are pushing his agenda or allowing him to push this agenda,” the FNM insider said. Another key reason the FNM lost the last election was a public relations fall down.

During its five-year term, the party did not sufficiently convey to the electorate the things it was doing

right.

This allowed critics of the Ingraham administration to capitalise on perceived failures and sell them to voters as a reason to throw the party out of office.

As the party emerges from its convention on November 21, either with a new leader or with Dr Hubert Minnis still at the helm, it must focus on its public image and fine ways to connect with the swing voters who are sympathetic to the DNA.

The party must also find ways to bring over disgruntled PLPs to its fold.

FNMs must unite around whoever emerges as leader and focus on a strategic plan which is cognisant of its failures in 2012 and prepared to do the hard work to win 2017. Otherwise, it may mean another long, hard five years in opposition.

What do you think? Email comments to tmthompson@tribunemedia.net