The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader K Peter Turnquest yesterday branded the legal action filed by two Official Opposition members over the recently tabled draft boundaries report as a “pointless exercise” that will not be supported by the FNM, insisting that the party was focused on fighting the government on the campaign trail.

Mr Turnquest said reductions to the size of Centreville and Bain and Grants Town created an unfair advantage to incumbents, and, coupled with the late tabling of the bill, put all Opposition candidates at a disadvantage.

He noted that the voter registration numbers did not justify the changes and that the government has failed in its constitutional duty to ensure fairness and equity in the process. But, ultimately, he surmised that seeking legal recourse was a “pointless exercise”.

“Obviously there are some strategic advantages for the government to move the boundaries to include polling divisions that they think are stronger,” he said, “or move those that they think are weaker, for them to try to create an advantage for themselves and we see that clearly in this report. There is no doubt about it.

“But, at the end of the day, it is our job to go out and canvass the Bahamian people as a whole, so that no matter where the lines are, we secure the support of the Bahamian people.

“We will certainly take a stand that we believe it is unfair the way the boundaries have been cut. There was no need for the way it was cut, the numbers don’t justify there being a cut. When you look at Centreville and Bain and Grants Town, they were each reduced by 1,000 voters. They are the lowest voter count in all the constituencies in the country, why?

“It does create a bit of an unfair advantage for those two members in terms of the number of people they represent as opposed to others, and the power of one vote in those constituencies as compared to others.

“It’s incumbent upon us to go and win the election,” Mr Turnquest said. “We’re not going to shirk away and whine and complain, we’re going to go fight because we believe we have a plan that is worth fighting for and a country that is worth fighting for.

“We’re a minority and at this point we’re a three-person minority, irrespective of what the (Official) Opposition may be. So we will certainly voice our concern but in terms of opposing it, there’s no point, it’s a pointless exercise. We will fight on the ground.”

Marco City MP Greg Moss, leader of the United Democratic Party, also weighed in on the issue yesterday. During debate on the draft order, Mr Moss told the House of Assembly that elections are won on the ground, not based on constituency lines.

He also disagreed with the merit of the legal action, suggesting that gerrymandering of constituencies often did not help governing administrations to win a general election.

On Tuesday, the plaintiffs, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn and Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins, filed an application in the Supreme Court to have the draft order declared void and that the 2012 order on constituency boundaries should be made extant, meaning applicable to the 2017 general election.

The men seek a favourable ruling based on three grounds: that the draft order has been tabled too late to be legal, that it represents egregious gerrymandering and that it seeks to add an additional constituency despite a nationwide pace of voter registration that is well below that of 2012.

Mr Lightbourn and Dr Rollins are part of the “rebel seven” that ousted FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly, and appointed Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner in December last year. The FNM has appointed a three-person tribunal to decide the fate of Mrs Butler-Turner and the six other members of Parliament, and that process is ongoing.

The two MPs are represented by attorney Michael Scott.