The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The untimely passing of Charles Maynard serves to show us all that life is fragile and that we must make the best of each day and each situation. I am deeply saddened by his death as he was a man who stood for what he believed in without fear. I remember watching him debate and in the last general election campaign, he was truly in his element on the political stage. Recently I was happy to see that he had rallied in support of Dr Minnis as the leader of the FNM. After all Maynard was an Ingraham man, but true to his character stood in defence of his new leader up to the last day of life. I observed Minnis and Maynard in action and was happy to see that they shared similar straits like planning and organisation, desire for youth development and focus on rebuilding the FNM party. These traits are required to get the FNM back as the party of choice, these traits are required to win the hearts of the people.

One of the main complaints of the FNM in the last general election is that they were uncaring, inanimate and too focused on things, not people. The party found the solution to fix that problem with the team of Minnis and Maynard as they demonstrated that they were caring and compassionate. They were focused on involving more people in the party and making it more people centric. Minnis’ tribute to his fallen colleague and friend demonstrated his ability to connect with his feelings, it was a very touching display of basic human emotions. In fact, it was very pleasing to see so many pay tribute in the House of Assembly no matter their political persuasion as Allison Maynard-Gibson said “we are family.”

Bahamians need to leave petty politics where it belongs in our past, not our future. So, in moving forward, the FNM should continue on the path that Minnis and Maynard started, in fact, Dr Minnis will be challenged to replace Charles Maynard with someone that is loyal, focused, but most of all compassionate. It is time for all FNMs to support the leader and follow the path laid out by the new administration.

C RAHMING

Nassau,

August 16, 2012.