The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney yesterday distanced himself from talks of a possible coalition with the Free National Movement, expressing scepticism that the embattled opposition party could recover in time for the next general election.

With five years under its belt, Mr McCartney rebuffed the categorisation of his party as fledgling status, insisting that the organisation has been considered a major party since the 2012 general election.

He claimed that the DNA has been more of an opposition party than the FNM in the past four years.

“The FNM can’t get their own party together,” he told The Tribune. “We can’t have no type of discussions with them. We are focused on becoming the next government of the Bahamas.

“We never thought about joining the FNM ever. I made a comment about numbers, but never thought about joining. The DNA is going into this election, we’ve been a major party from the last election. We got 10 per cent of the vote in such a short time with no political history, you can imagine what we will do this time.

“Every party has infighting but it’s how it’s handled,” he added, commenting on the ongoing turmoil in the FNM. “What’s happened with the FNM seems to have gotten way out of hand. It could lead to the destruction of the party as a whole notwithstanding the outcome of the convention. It’s unfortunate, but for the DNA, we continue to move forward. We are well prepared for the upcoming election.”

Speculation over a merger picked up last month after Mr McCartney suggested on a radio talk show that a coalition between the FNM and DNA would “finish” the Progressive Liberal Party.

He later told The Tribune that he had been approached “several times” by senior members within the FNM, as well as sitting FNM MPs, to join the Official Opposition.

While he maintained that the DNA would never “fold up” and join a “sinking FNM”, he proposed that the two parties “join forces and work together” to oust the PLP from government.

Yesterday, Mr McCartney said the party was looking forward to its first national convention, scheduled for September 30 and 31. All positions will be open for contest at that time, and Mr McCartney said he welcomed challenges as a healthy part of democracy.

He noted that the party has attracted both FNM and PLP supporters, adding that 25 candidates have already been internally ratified.

“It is some bad laundry being aired,” he said, responding to questions from The Tribune about the FNMs leadership issues.

“Mind you from my understanding the same problem happening in the PLP, but the PLP has always been good at keeping dirty laundry within the party. My understanding is they’re having some very serious issues.

“Everyday people are calling up and telling me the difficulty the (FNM) party is facing. But it’s for them to steer their ship. We are steering the DNA. We’ve been more of the opposition than the Official Opposition for the last four years. We continue to become stronger, our base continues to grow, our support continues to grow as well.

“At this stage, they are not cohesive enough to run a party, we will have to wait and see what transpires, and if in time for the upcoming election. Certainly their record thus far is not impressive at all.

“But we don’t take anything for granted,” he added, “the fact this administration is the worst administration in recent history, and we’re not taking for granted that the FNM party seems to be in disarray. We are concentrating on preparing for the election as if they are viable parties.”