The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE cobbling together of aspects of the political divide to create a monstrosity to take out Dr Hubert A Minnis (FNM-Killarney) and to emasculate the now tattered Free National Movement is nothing short of a spectacle and display of rank ambition.

The so-called paper leaders of this creature which appears to have no father reminds me of the lead character in a horror movie called: Damien.

The construction of a house of cards is now underway.

The FNM, if Minnis is to save face must do one of three things; come to an accommodation with the political Cinderella (Loretta) and her six and a half dwarfs (that crew of hormone free appendages); be ejected from the ranks of the FNM (which is firmly under the control of Minnis) or to continue down the low road by gutting the FNM with the complicity of that organisation of boys in short pants and the girls in crinoline skirts.

There are no other options, in my view.

How will all of this play out? Minnis may as well kiss those defecting MPs goodbye and seek to move on with a rump party. The FNM is on the ropes but it is thought to command 45 per cent of the electorate as core supporters. It is opined that the PLP commands a similar percentage. It is that 10 per cent of the undecided that will factor in the 2017 general elections. Those elections are the PLP’s to lose. We will, however, not lose or concede any ground or constituency. We must cultivate the undecided.

The Mortician has taken out the Doctor and placed him on life support, if she is not already embalming or cremating him, without the benefit of last rites. The Bahamas needs someone to remain at the helm of state in the form of the Rt Hon Perry Gladstone Christie (PLP-Centreville). We need a firm hand at the tiller and reasonably sensible leaders to guide us through the threatening waters of 2017 and beyond.

The House of Cards which Loretta and crew have cobbled together will not last into the first quarter of the New Year. The dimpled perpetual leader of the delusional organisation, has long said to me, personally, Ortland: ‘You are looking at the next Prime Minister’. This was way back in 2012.

I burst out laughing over his utterly naïve and self serving tirade. He, like Loretta, is consumed by a sense of entitlement, despite the fact that they really bring nothing new to the table.

Ingraham knows the dimpled one well and had no hesitation in accepting his resignation as Minister of State for Immigration. Loretta did very little with her cabinet portfolio except to strut around as if she had been anointed mistress of all that she surveyed. Minnis was right there too, creased up and eating his share of lamb chops and steamed conch.

The task of the PLP as we prepare to leap into 2017 is clear cut. We must move swiftly and with total sincerity to rekindle the “Bahamian Contract” with the unwashed masses. Our core supporters make up the bulk of the constituencies here in our wonderful nation. The Exumas; Cat Island; Eleuthera and at least two of the Grand Bahama constituencies will fall into place with the Nassauvians to ensure that the PLP is returned to power with a minimum of 25 seats. The FNM will win at least eight of the rest while Loretta and crew would be lucky, in the extreme, if they got two of the reminder.

There are no other credible opposition candidates, with the exception of Stephen Greenslade. He is a personal friend and a man whom I greatly admire and respect. I was able to broker conversations between him and the DPM, with a view to his aligning himself with the PLP but that was not to be. He will now, alas, be led like the proverbial lamb, to the slaughter. The House of Cards will crumble under its own weight.

The PLP knows what it has to do but its message is badly communicated, save and except through people and organisations like me. The greatest news that we have had in months was not given the prominence that it deserves.

The House of Cards is incapable of offering our people a serious alternative to the PLP. We welcome a flip-flopper like Loretta to lead the opposition and hidden forces in 2017, if she is able to successfully fend off the ravenous political ogre and boys in short pants and girls in crinoline skirts. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr

Nassau,

December 14, 2016.