The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Senator Dr Duane Sands said yesterday that he stands by his decision to announce his plans to contest the deputy leader post at the party’s national convention next month despite criticism that the move was premature.

On June 19, Dr Sands announced that he intended to run as a team with Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner vying for leader. However, Mrs Butler-Turner has not made a formal announcement. The two were unsuccessful at the party’s last convention in 2014, where they ran separate campaigns for the same posts.

He said the upcoming convention was a test run for the next general election on political maturity and skill that will see the party politically rebuked by the electorate if it fails.

“It’s not premature, not at all,” he said. “Certainly even as a member of a team I would have made a decision for reasons that I’m aware of and, good and bad, I stand by that decision. I’ve seen the comments, I’ve seen and heard the criticism and politics in the Bahamas is a blood sport.

“There’s been a lot of talk, speculation, conspiracy theories, about what does this all mean. People are looking at where the tea leaves have settled trying to determine whether it points in the direction of the sun, moon and stars. I can assure you that Loretta Butler-Turner is very much in control of everything that there is to do about Loretta Butler-Turner and the narrative I’m sure will be her narrative.”

Dr Sands added: “Notwithstanding comments, questions, concerns, etc, in most team sports the narrative is always to play your game, don’t be drawn into anybody else’s offence or defence. Run your own race.”

The FNM’s national convention is set for July 27-29, pushed up from its initial November date after a group of six parliamentarians threatened to remove Dr Hubert Minnis as Official Opposition leader if he did not accept an earlier date. According to Mrs Butler-Turner, Dr Minnis has since said that he plans to “deal with” dissenting parliamentarians after he successfully defends his post. Although Dr Sands was not a part of the faction that issued the ultimatum, he acknowledged yesterday that his political future was uncertain despite having already been ratified as the party’s standard-bearer for Elizabeth.

“I’m not convinced that the current leader and/or his deputy makes for the strongest team and for that reason I am offering instead. I recognise that there are others who don’t share that view, but again you have to make decisions based on what you believe.

“I am prepared to accept whatever consequences arise out of my decision,” he said. “I don’t think that there is any point in me catching feelings about whether I ought to have a nomination or not.”

Dr Sands noted that Bahamian politics differed from the American system, where it was traditional for presidential hopefuls to “rough up each other” and then put aside differences to unite behind a single candidate.

He insisted that after four years, the FNM was still not a united party. He said that realisation paired with the party’s inability to generate sufficient sums of money, must be laid at the feet of Dr Minnis.

When asked whether he could support Dr Minnis if he is again re-elected as leader, Dr Sands said: “I have done so sincerely and legitimately and honestly for the last four years, as have many of the MPs who have now raised concerns. I don’t think you could have found more supportive team members.

“I think this [convention] is a test of our political maturity, and the test of our ability to seek common ground. If we pass this test we will have no difficulty reaching out to disaffected PLPs and DNA supporters in the community because we would have learned to move from entrenched inflexible positions to find conciliatory compromise, common ground.

“I believe this is a test run for the general election. This is our dress rehearsal, not necessarily on the issues but on our political skills, on our ability to be statesmen and stateswomen.”