The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s long-term economic and social viability hinges on the plans and policies presented by Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis and his ability to execute them, according to one of the party’s founding members Maurice Moore yesterday.

While forecasting that thousands of voters will take to the polls in support of Dr Minnis and the FNM today, Mr Moore stressed that the real work would only begin once the votes are counted.

Of the FNM’s outlook, he noted that the party possesses the plans needed to rescue the country from the brink of destruction and despair.

Mr Moore was among several supporters of the FNM who yesterday urged voters still unsure about who to support today, to review the plans presented by Dr Minnis and his team and see them as “the saving grace desperately needed”.

Acknowledging efforts by Dr Minnis over the last two years in particular, Mr Moore said the “valour” displayed by the Killarney incumbent in the face of dissent should stand as evidence that he, more so than any other candidate vying for the post of prime minister, is suited and prepared for the “trying times” ahead.

“Corruption is more rampant than ever before. Our people are out of work. Our kids are struggling in school. This, more than at any other point, this is crunch time for the Bahamas and this election is a vote for progress or despair,” Mr Moore told The Tribune.

“The fallacies of politics are no more. Voters are more aware than they have ever been and that is why we have now become accustomed to changing governments every five years.

“The chaos we now see comes as a result of many missteps and mistakes.

“Now we have a man in this great party with the vision and passion to move this country forward. This election isn’t about the margin we win by, because we will win, it is about what we do after those polls are closed and we get into Parliament.

“The plans are there. How do we execute them,” said Mr Moore.

Detailing aspects of plans presented by Dr Minnis while on the campaign trail, Mr Moore insisted that the failure of Bahamian voters to turn away the PLP and back the FNM leader would “detour economic and social viability” for years to come.

This sentiment was yesterday supported by another outspoken Minnis supporter in former Bamboo Town MP Tennyson Wells.

Mr Wells said: “For the first time, the country will have a leader that looks to the future. We will have a statesman in place, not a politician.”

In December, incumbent Long Island MP Loretta Butler Turner and six other members of the FNM parliamentary caucus removed Dr Hubert Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition.

The move has been a point of contention among FNMs over the course of the 2017 election campaign - with PLP officials using it as an example of Dr Minnis’ failed leadership.

The FNM is contesting every seat today. If successful, Dr Minnis would become the fourth person to serve as prime minister in the country’s history.