The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Free National Movement has been the most inclusive, impartial, multi-racial political party in the history of The Bahamas.

From the beginning, being an FNM was not about the colour of one’s skin, but rather the content of one’s character and one’s commitment to a certain set of ideals including the oneness of the Bahamian people.

We have not sought to deepen divides, but rather to bring people together in the name of democracy, equality and good governance. Indeed, this is why the Founding Fathers chose as the party’s motto: “All Together”.

Unlike the PLP and the UBP, the FNM has always been a true force for national unity. Now, it would seem that in the current quarrel over leadership in the FNM some would want to change that and are pushing a dangerous line of division.

Most of this has been by shady characters on social media but now the deliberate divisiveness is being exposed in the press as well – notably Tennyson Wells’ blatant accusation of racism levelled against FNM MP Richard Lightbourn.

If this culture is allowed to spread and take root in the FNM, the party of freedom and equality would end up as a creature that looks, acts and sounds just like the PLP.

All across social media, and increasingly in the press as well, these supporters of Minnis’ leadership are spreading messages of mistrust, animosity and division. Some of them are using slander and innuendo to manufacture racial hatred in an effort to cling to power.

Of course, the idea that the FNM faces a great white threat is a load of laughable nonsense. For one thing, the majority of those who oppose Minnis (i.e. the vast majority of FNMs) favour Loretta Butler Turner for leader.

Granddaughter of the first Bahamian Governor-General Sir Milo Butler – a real hero of the masses who fought to defend the dignity of the disenfranchised all his life – Butler Turner would hardly be the first choice of wicked white elitists.

Then there is the fact that the majority of Loretta supporters are women, and specifically women of colour. It is not hard to understand why: these are committed FNM supporters, by nature forward-thinking and progressive.

They know that the FNM has always fought for the equality of women with many firsts to its credit, including the first woman to be elected to parliament in the person of Janet Bostwick and the first female Governor General in the person of Dame Ivy Dumont.

These women sense that the time has come for prejudices based on gender as well as race to be put aside once and for all. They see in Loretta a person whose obvious leadership qualities – charisma, fluency, intelligence, competence and courage – should not be sacrificed on the altar of outdated misogyny.

Attempting to play the race card as well as the gender card is a cheap, cowardly tactic. More than that, it shows the kind of desperation some people are now experiencing as it becomes clearer by the day that the party – nay, the country – desperately desires better leadership.

FORMER FNM COUNCILLOR

Nassau,

February 9, 2016.