The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

Now that former Democratic National Alliance candidate Wayne Munroe has defected to the ruling Progressive Liberal Party without so much as having the deference to inform the DNA hierarchy, it is high time that Branville McCartney and his rabid followers come to grips with the cold, hard facts of reality about politics in The Bahamas.

The fact that Munroe chose not to notify McCartney of his planned amalgamation with the PLP suggests that he really never took the DNA seriously. It was a slight towards McCartney, who must be a bit embarrassed that his good friend chose not to confide in him of his planned move.

The DNA was even planning on running him again. If nothing else, this latest move shows that the leadership of the DNA is lacking in communication and is somewhat discombobulated. The fact that McCartney didn’t see this move coming from a mile away is indeed telling.

The two main political organisations, the Free National Movement and PLP, will continue to dominate the political landscape, as they have over the past four decades, in the foreseeable future. There is no room in this country for fringe parties. Despite gaining 13,000 votes in 2012, the DNA has lost significant momentum and is on a rapid decline.

I am of the view that the only reason that the DNA captured so many votes was due to a curiosity factor thousands of disillusioned Bahamians had with McCartney and his party. Now many of the 13,000 who voted DNA have come to the realisation that their support for the DNA facilitated the PLP in recapturing the government. They now realise that if the opposition is splintered, as it was in 2012, the PLP will once again waltz into the government in 2017.

As it stands right now, the DNA is haemorrhaging supporters at an alarming rate. While the DNA PR machinery continues to churn out propaganda on Facebook that its base of supporters has swelled since the last election in 2012, the continued defection of high-profile members and candidates belie this claim. Munroe must have been the fourth candidate to have publicly defected from McCartney’s organisation in the past few years.

Former DNA chairman Mark Humes, who was the party’s standard bearer in Fort Charlotte, and Roscoe Thompson, who ran for the party in Central and South Abaco, have both defected to the FNM. I also understand that another DNA candidate has abandoned the sinking SS DNA for the FNM. And these are only ones we know of to have abandoned the DNA. Doubtless there are many others.

It is time for McCartney to close up shop. The DNA is never going to become government. It will never win a seat in Parliament. McCartney must swallow his pride and rejoin the FNM. With only about 17 months before the next election, time is of the essence for McCartney and his followers.

KEVIN EVANS

September 9, 2015