The Tribune

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

LAST week, Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr Hubert Minnis pulled a political chess move that stunned and angered many in his own party.

By recruiting Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins and Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells into the FNM, Dr Minnis has stalled plans for a reported overthrow by several of his own members of Parliament.

Dr Minnis has also shown that he is able to attract younger faces to the FNM, those with passion and zeal that can add some life to the often lacklustre opposition bench. He has also been able to sway two men who, at first, did not see their political belief system aligned with that of the opposition party.

Some observers have said the move is a genius tactic from Dr Minnis in the short-term because it offers him some political protection from rivals in his own party, but the verdict is still out on whether this will play out in his favour in the long-term.

Both Dr Rollins and Mr Wells have proved to be unpredictable, and Dr Rollins in particular has shown that he will not blindly tow the party line.

His aggressive, scathing critiques of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) have won him the favour of the public and thrust him onto the front page of newspapers, but this same attitude caused rifts within the party that lifted him out of political obscurity and helped him win a seat in Parliament.

“Rollins has been a very aggressive fellow in the party (PLP), I don’t know what the circumstances were that led to that, but he has been very outspoken and seems to have some political skills,” said one senior member of the FNM, who did not want to be named.

The insider said despite Dr Rollins’ positive qualities, it is unclear if he can work constructively within an organisation.

“That is to be seen, that is the $100,000 question. Can he work with the team? I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to judge it because I don’t know why he was the way he was in the PLP, we’re not sure of the circumstances that created that situation.”

While he was a member of the PLP, Dr Rollins routinely sparred with Dr Minnis during House of Assembly debates.

The most memorable of these rows came in March 2013, when the Fort Charlotte MP accused Dr Minnis of planting “lies” in the Punch, a local tabloid, which suggested he was gay.

“For the record, I am absolutely, 100 per cent heterosexual ... Anybody who knows me, knows the lifestyle that I live,” Dr Rollins stressed at the time. “I had the FNM, while I ran for the PLP, trying to tell parents lies about me, a professional who works with children, to try and scandalise my name, to cause me to lose business.

“And you think I am not going to defend myself when the member for Killarney (Dr Minnis) who was lying on me, stood up on his feet and the member for Long Island were trying to get into my head and bend their wrists? And he’s supposed to be a leader of the opposition?”

However, Dr Minnis rebuffed Dr Rollins’ accusations, telling Parliament at the time that he was not interested in the dentist’s sexual orientation.

“I know what I am, he knows what he is. I have no interest. What he chooses to be is his business,” Dr Minnis said.

The war of words erupted after Dr Rollins accused the Killarney MP of a conflict of interest because he benefited from a contract with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) while he was minister of health in the previous Ingraham administration. However, this year Dr Rollins walked back from those statements, telling the media that he had been “lured” into making the accusations by senior members of the PLP.

Dr Rollins also came into conflict with Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, who infamously slapped him on the House of Assembly’s staircase landing in July 2013. Mrs Butler-Turner, at the time deputy leader of the FNM, said she was “provoked” into slapping Dr Rollins after he embraced her, whispered “horrific” things in her ear and would not let her go.

Meanwhile, Mr Wells comes with his own peculiar set of problems, specifically the letter of intent controversy (LOI) that still lingers over his head.

“Mr Wells has to explain to the satisfaction of the people why he signed that letter of intent. I think that is something he has got to clear up for the public to accept him as potential candidate,” the FNM insider added, echoing sentiments from other observers.

Looking at their political history, both Dr Rollins and Mr Wells appear to be opportunists, jumping on the best chance to further their political careers.

While they are understandably disillusioned with the PLP and disappointing governance of Prime Minister Perry Christie, one must also wonder how long they will be happy in the FNM.

However, before joining the PLP when the party was in opposition, both men castigated the political status quo. Considering the dismal record of governance Mr Christie had during his first term, it’s hard to understand what lured the pair to that side of the fence in the first place or what made them think a second Christie term would be different.

One PLP observer told Insight he was not worried about the fact that the two men, once heralded as part of the PLP’s bridge to the future, had jumped ship.

“I guess from their point of view it’s smart, I don’t worry too much about what individuals do,” the observer said. “They came into the PLP, they were invited to join, and they had their little party that was going nowhere. They were invited, given an opportunity by the PLP to be in prime time. They obviously didn’t know how to operate as a team. They didn’t distinguish themselves within that team to be worthy to be pushed by given greater responsibility.

‘”So I don’t see what it is the FNM would see in them, that the PLP hadn’t already seen and already evaluated.”

However the observer was adamant that the established political parties should stop recruiting candidates who are not aligned with their philosophies simply to win elections or score political points.

“Political parties got to stop picking people to be candidates who only want to get to the House of Assembly by any means. Political parties got to first decide, is that person a PLP or an FNM? They got to be that before they run on the ticket. But in recent elections we’ve been picking people in many cases for the wrong reasons. (You) just want to win and sometimes you spend so much wanting to win, when you do win it impacts negatively your ability to govern because you won with some people who aren’t going to help you govern.”

• What do you think? Email tmthompson@tribunemedia.net.