The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard says he hopes the party agrees to increase its number of voting delegates at the next convention.

In 2019, the Progressive Liberal Party amended its constitution to significantly increase the number of delegates that could participate and vote in its national conventions.

With the change, the number of people who could vote from each constituency grew from ten to 20. The party also agreed to appoint five convention delegates for every affiliate group.

Fewer people are eligible to vote in the FNM’s convention.

During a press conference this week, Mr Pintard said: “The closer we get to the convention we’ll give you some more details, we’ll signal what will happen, but certainly that’s one of the things I’m hopeful that the convention will agree to.

“We have many outstanding senior citizens who have played an incredible role over the last 50 years in building this organisation and we believe that they ought to have a place in the Free National Movement convention, a part of our council and I believe that’s a view shared throughout our organisation. So, we fully expect to see an increase in the number of meritorious council members in the upcoming convention.”

 Mr Pintard said discussions were continuing about a budget for the FNM’s convention, which is scheduled for February. Although the FNM settled its leadership issue last month in an event that cost around $100,000, the February convention will be the first full convention it has had since 2016. The party’s constitution mandates that it holds a convention every two years.

 FNM chairman Carl Culmer said in 2019 a committee had been established to recommend changes to the party’s constitution.

 “We have a committee now that is looking at our constitution and they are going to be making a number of recommendations,” he said at the time. “We can’t change a constitution unless we’re at a convention and the convention must approve the constitution so at our next convention our constitution will be up for amendments. We have appointed a chairman of the committee.

 “Our party leader and our council gave the committee the mandate to look at the entire constitution to see what is relevant to the modern-day Bahamas. Some things in the constitution are open ended and there is no teeth in it. When you look at the constitution, it’s vague and we want to make sure persons can understand what the constitution is saying rather than assume what it’s saying and that’s one of the things the committee is going to look at that.”