The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner said holding a full convention this year will not only ensure the Free National Movement “votes for and presents the best team to the Bahamian people” but will also give the party an opportunity to “gather behind closed doors and become stronger.”

When asked if she plans to run for any executive positions during the convention, Mrs Butler-Turner said: “My number one priority at this moment is to ensure I win Long Island, that is what I am putting all of my efforts into right now.”

Last Thursday, the FNM Central Council unanimously voted to hold a full convention no later than November 30.

At the party’s last convention in November 2014, Mrs Butler-Turner was unsuccessful in her bid to unseat FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis.

Many party supporters believe that the FNM’s former deputy leader would again contest Dr Minnis for the party’s top post, however Mrs Butler-Turner said that is “not her intention at this time.”

“I respect and support the Central Council’s decision to hold a national convention,” she said yesterday. “I believe that convention serves many important purposes.

“Firstly it brings together FNMs from all sectors and constituencies across our Bahamas. It allows us the opportunity to gather behind closed doors to fine tune and strengthen our policy positions and messaging. We will be able to vote for or affirm our best team members at all levels to ensure victory at the polls whenever elections are called in the not too distant future. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, it gives our party a national public arena to inform the Bahamian electorate of our party’s platform to address the national crisis in which we find ourselves and measures we propose to implement to remove the PLP – the most incompetent government in our country’s history.

“Lastly, this last convention before a general election would showcase our diverse team of standard bearers who will be leading the charge on behalf of our great and unified Free National Movement,” she said.

The FNM has not revealed a specific date for the convention.