The Tribune

By Malcolm Strachan

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will not be the leader of the Free National Movement after convention day on November 27.

That now seems clear after several weeks of Dr Minnis falling slightly short of ruling out the possibility entirely.

He had previously said that he wouldn’t run for leader again, but on Friday went a step further by saying that neither would he allow his name to be put forward at convention.

It is a welcome statement in that it makes clear that the FNM needs to make a break from its immediate past and choose a new way forward.

That it comes as the party celebrates its 50th anniversary is even more reason for its members and would-be leaders to take a good look at the purpose of the party and what it should stand for going forward from this point.

Make no mistake, there are lessons for the FNM to learn from what has gone wrong in the past few years.

The party has gone from winning by a landslide to oust the administration of Perry Christie to losing by a landslide to Christie’s former deputy, now Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.

Has the country experienced misfortune on a scale that would challenge any government in first Hurricane Dorian and then the pandemic that has beset the world? Absolutely.

Are those the only reasons behind the FNM being swept from power? Not at all.

Around the world, politicians have paid the price for being in power when the pandemic hit. But the ones who have weathered it best are those who have dealt with COVID-19 in the strongest way while still maintaining strong communication with citizens. Dr Minnis often seemed too remote when it came to the latter, but it only served to accentuate annoyances that citizens were already feeling with his administration.

To truly understand the path forward, the FNM has to understand the frustrations that built up in the electorate over the course of its last term in office.

After running on pledges of transparency, the Minnis administration proceeded to fail to live up to the prospect of an open government.

Press secretaries came and disappeared from view. Promised quarterly briefings never happened. Worse, legislation that was promised on term limits and fixed election dates somehow never made it to a vote despite the massive majority the FNM held. Meanwhile, items such as freedom of information were left to the last minute before implementation and still aren’t up and running properly.

Beyond that, there was a disconnect between Dr Minnis and the electorate that seemed to grow during the COVID-19 lockdown measures. The cries of him being a dictator on Facebook were over the top, but there was little sense of us all being in this together.

There was one incident too that made Dr Minnis seem out of touch with the people he wanted to follow him, when in a row with Mr Davis he was asked if Mr Davis had called him in relation to a letter from the PLP leader, to which Dr Minnis responded with “No. N-P-O. No.” That was seemingly referring to a Latin term, “nil per os”, used in medical fields and meaning nothing through the mouth.

Dr Minnis seldom seemed like a man of the people, despite rushing at Junkanoo and having come from having risen to success from being born in Bain Town.

The party also needs to look across the political divide at the incumbent PLP, and frustrations that are already being felt with the new government – chiefly that with the appearance of so many faces from the Christie administration that was so soundly voted out previously, the claims of it being a New Day from the election trail are already starting to ring hollow.

On November 28, the day after convention, the new leader of the FNM will have to make sure there really is a change ahead for the party.

Lesson one in that is for the party to live up to its election promises. The FNM made some interesting pledges on the election trail last time, such as free school meals for all public school students. But as many people asked, if the party hadn’t lived up to its promises from the last time, how could they be trusted on new promises?

The second lesson is to really mean it when the party talks about transparency. Not just when it’s convenient, but even when it’s embarrassing for the party itself. There must not be probes that are announced that then are never heard of again. There must not be cases such as the Oban deal, which seemed to suffer from a lack of due diligence on the government’s part and then was avoided in discussion afterwards.

The FNM faces a big decision. So far, Iram Lewis has offered himself for leadership, and Shanendon Cartwright has talked about a leadership position, which could include chairman or deputy. There are only seven FNMs in Parliament, and one of those is Dr Minnis. So only six possible contenders for leader if the party goes with someone in office. There are FNMs outside Parliament who might consider a run, such as Dr Duane Sands, who would have to prove they can win an election when they couldn’t win a seat. Then there are those such as former Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest who didn’t run who would have to show they could lead effectively from outside the House.

It is a tough choice. But the first choice the FNM has to make is to break with the mistakes of the past. Only then can any new leader ask for the electorate’s trust. That is the biggest challenge of all.