The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has been catapulted to super-stardom in the eyes of thousands of Bahamians by his refusal to withdraw the controversial statement he made in July in the House of Assembly concerning the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) alleged cosy and conflicting relationship with Peter Nygard and its blitz to legalise stem cell research and therapy in The Bahamas.

House Speaker Dr Kendal Major has unwittingly aided in changing the perception of Minnis in the minds of thousands of FNMs and swing-voters who had initially written off Minnis as a weak and ineffective opposition leader who was woefully unable to fill the giant shoes of former FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham. Minnis has proven to many that he’s a man’s man by his latest Parliamentary theatrics.

He is the talk of the country and social media and will undoubtedly grace the front pages of every major newspaper in the country. After the FNM leader was named and barred from the House for two sittings, the Speaker suspended the House for 15 minutes after Minnis refused to follow the Speaker’s orders to leave the chambers of the House. During the recess about nine police officers were then summoned to removed the FNM leader from the chambers. Fortunately, Minnis along with his deputy Loretta Butler-Turner left the chambers without the physical aid of the police officers and held a news conference on the steps of the House of Assembly. Peter Turnquest and Richard Lightbourne were both physically removed from the House by officers.

I saw a photo of the FNM parliamentary caucus on a Facebook page in the minority room. There were seven FNM MPs in total: Minnis, Loretta Butler-Turner, Richard Lightbourne, Hubert Chipman, Neko Grant, Peter Turnquest and Theo Neilly.

Oddly enough, South Abaco MP Edison Key was not present at the news conference on the steps of the House; nor was he in the photo in the minority room; nor did he support his FNM Parliamentary colleagues in their refusal to name and bar Minnis from the House.

Indeed, Key is the lone FNM MP to remain in the House as one PLP MP after another broadsided the leader of his party during the stem cell debate. Key attempted to do some political damage control when he told the media that his allegiance is with the FNM and his leader. Yeah, right!

To me, it would appear that Key is attempting a valiant effort at keeping one foot firmly planted in the PLP camp, despite saying that he is FNM. Key is philosophically a PLP. He was a PLP for decades after falling out with the party during the tenure of the first Christie administration. Key reminds me of Benedict Arnold and Judas Iscariot. The former American army general back-stabbed America during the Revolutionary War by defecting to the British in 1780. Concerning Judas; he betrayed the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver. I really believe that Key badly wants to return to the PLP, but doesn’t know how to do so without hurting his political image in the eyes of the hundreds of FNMs in South Abaco who put him in the House of Assembly in 2012. The time has come for Minnis to demand that Key come out of the closet and publicly declare his political persuasion, which is no doubt PLP. The sooner Key leaves the FNM, the better.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

August 7, 2013.