The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AT the urging of Justice Indra Charles, the Free National Movement’s warring factions reached an amicable resolution in the Supreme Court yesterday concerning an application for judicial review over the Fort Charlotte Constituency Association’s recent election process.

The terms of the compromise included an agreement to hold a new election for the Fort Charlotte branch “within the next 14 days on a date to be mutually agreed”.

Applicants in the case had argued that FNM Chairman Sidney Collie, represented in the matter by Senator Carl Bethel, orchestrated a sham in the election last month to “achieve a pre-packaged result” of elected officers who would support Dr Hubert Minnis at next month’s party convention.

The application was brought by Karen Brown, the former chair of the association who was represented in court by Michael Scott, legal advisor to the FNM.

Ms Brown was protesting Mr Collie’s decision to dissolve the association’s officer corps and call an early election.

It had been alleged that Mr Collie denied at least 75 FNM members the right to bring themselves in good standing in order to participate in the re-election process.

Justice Charles pressed Mr Bethel and Mr Scott to find an amicable resolution in the matter.

To this, Mr Bethel first said the two men already exchanged emails on the matter and he concluded it could not be resolved without the court’s intervention.

Justice Charles said: “Why burden an overburdened court already? Why can’t the two of you sit and let good sense prevail?”

Mr Bethel said the matter was born out of a “long-running, bitter personal dispute” between groups in the Fort Charlotte Constituency Association and that next month’s convention was a catalyst that allowed the feud to bubble up.

Nonetheless, after an intervention by Mr Scott, the men agreed to seek a resolution once again.

Justice Charles adjourned the court for more than 15 minutes to facilitate this.

The parties involved subsequently agreed “that the register of votes for the said constituency association elections shall be comprised of those registered voters certified as such by the Deputy Chairman Francis Sawyer on May 17, 2016…with the addition of the six persons whose complete membership application forms were submitted on May 18, 2016.”

It was also agreed “that six voting delegates for the upcoming national convention of the Free National Movement (inclusive of the recently elected council representative) shall be equally divided and be allocated as to three delegates to be selected by the applicant and the former executive officers of the Fort Charlotte constituency, and two delegates to be selected by the recently elected executive board of the Fort Charlotte constituency, together with the recently elected council member.

“The alternate delegates shall be similarly allocated as to three to the selection of the applicant and the former executives, and two to selection of the current executives of the Fort Charlotte Constituency Association.

“The outcome of the said constituency association elections scheduled to be held in the next 14 days shall not change the allocation of convention delegates set forth in clause hereof.”

Each party agreed to bear their own legal costs in the matter.