The Tribune

11.55pm: That brings an end to our coverage of Day Two of the FNM Convention. Don't miss Friday's Tribune for all the news and reaction from tonight's event.

11.50pm: Mr Turnquest ends his speech with a roar of “Roc With Doc!”.

11.45pm: He is now talking about what is needed on Grand Bahama. He says the FNM leadership has been planning for a new and better Bahamas.

He adds that the FNM leadership wants all Bahamians to succeed and to create wealth.

He calls for FNMs to “Roc With Doc” at the polls tomorrow.

11.40pm: Mr Turnquest says if an FNM government is elected under the leadership of Dr Minnis, politicans will be held accountable and there will be transparency.

11.35pm: The FNM Deputy says he wants to see biomedical facilities here in the Bahamas and software developers creating new software. “Why can't we do it?” he asks, before saying “we will do it.”

He says an FNM government will make trade and industry a key focus of its programme.

11.25pm: Mr Turnquest says “we have to fix it” because “we are building a Bahamas for Bahamians”.

Now the focus is on education. He says “your next FNM goverment will introduce real education reform” to give children a foundation for the “building blocks to knowledge”.

Mr Turnquest says the next FNM government will create a new correctional facility, and pays tribute to correctional officers, saying “they live in Hell”.

11.20pm: He says “we must remove the PLP from office” and is now talking about Baha Mar.

11.15pm: Mr Turnquest is hitting out at the government members for travelling first class on “Bahamian people's money” and “coming back with nothing”.

11.10pm: After that unexpected opening from the FNM Deputy, he is now focussing on the PLP government.

11.05pm: FNM Deputy Peter Turnquest is now on the stage. Seeming to mock Loretta Butler-Turner's “starfish” symbol, he says the only symbol that matters to him is the torch.

An animated Mr Turnquest says to the audience “you cannot be proud by what you saw in here” and says “tomorrow, we fix this”.

He says he's upset and with the wrong people. A heated start to the speech.

10.55pm: Party members, including Dr Hubert Minnis, are mentioned as FNM generals.

And now, Dr Duane Sands is invited on stage. Mrs Butler-Turner did invite other party members up, but, for now, it's just herself and Dr Sands as the speech comes to an end.

10.50pm: Mrs Butler-Turner says an FNM government will insist on mandatory financial and conflict of interest disclosures by all Members of Parliament and Cabinet.

10.45pm: Attendees now hear about Mrs Butler-Turner's five-point plan which will focus on crime, unemployment, education, immigration and transparent, accountable governance.

She says she will bring in measures to reduce violence if she becomes PM and talks of zero tolerance approach to crime, “like they did in New York City”.

On the subject of the economy, she says Bahamians will have the financial tools needed to succeed and the FNM will invest in “your children's future”.

10.40pm: The Long Island MP continues to slam the government over Baha Mar saying: “The PLP have made us the laughing stock of the world and harmed our international tourism brand because of the mess they made” with the resort.

After criticising the government's handling of BAMSI, she says if she became PM she would create something called Opportunity and Enterprise Scholarships and Grants to help Bahamian entrepreneurs and innovators.

Now focussing on the potential of Bahamian industries, Mrs Butler-Turner says the Bahamian imagination is overflowing with creativity and new possibilities.

10.30pm: Mrs Loretta Butler-Turner says one of her mottos is going to be, 'Leave no FNMs behind'!”

She says she would have launched an apprenticeship programme for 1,000 young Bahamas, where they “would have received training within a business setting and get the life-skills and technical skills and vocational skills necessary to get jobs in various industries.”

The maritime economy would also be boosted if she becomes Prime Minister, she says.

She says Prime Minister Perry Christie's world is one of “make believe”, saying “don’t forget he kept telling us that Baha Mar was about to open”.

She tells those in attendance that Baha Mar would be open if the FNM was in power.

10.25pm: She talks of losing her sister to cancer and says: “Were I to become Prime Minister, our FNM government would phase in National Health Insurance in an affordable and responsible manner, with catastrophic health care on the top of the agenda.

“If I were Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas would be the leading Bahamian expert on National Health Insurance, Dr. Duane Sands, a brilliant doctor, a man who has saved the lives of thousands of Bahamas.”

And she adds: “It's alright to Roc with Doc. But I believe that it will be better with Loretta.”

10.25pm: Mrs Butler-Turner says: “We must hear the cries of our civil servants, the teachers, the nurses, the police and other uniformed branch officers who desperately need the FNM to get our house in order so that we can help them to get back on track.”

She asks where the VAT money has gone, and says: “The PLP lied to you when they told you that you could get comprehensive National Health Insurance – right away they said. That was over seven years ago. Like they like to say: 'So said, never done'.”

10.20pm: She pays tribute to the party's founding fathers Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield, Sir Arthur Foulkes, Sir Kendal Isaacs, Maurice Moore and CA Smith and says: “I speak to you tonight as a mother distraught about the future of all of our children.

“I speak to you as a Member of Parliament who has witnessed the abuse of democracy by government.

“I speak to you as a fellow-Bahamian patriot whose heart breaks when I see the suffering of so many of our people and who hears the cries of many Bahamians who feel abandoned by this PLP government and politicians.”

10.15pm: Mrs Butler-Turner calls for unity, saying: “We are not each other’s enemies. Our opponents are in that other party. We may have our disagreements because we're family. But in the spirit of Corinthians, there is a time for division but now is the time for unity and for healing.”

10.05pm: Loretta Butler-Turner is finally on the stage. She says “we are preparing for political warfare”.

10.00pm: Loretta Butler-Turner is due on the stage at any moment after a lively introduction from Phenton Neymour. Her husband, Edward Turner, is now paying tribute to the Long Island MP.

9.55pm: Party leader Dr Hubert Minnis has entered the room and the excitement levels have definitely gone up.

9.45pm: Mr Lightbourn says the country needs all hands on deck and not just those who support the FNM. He spent a large portion of his speech battling background music.

9.40pm: Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn has taken the stage. He focusses on absent fathers and land issues.

9.35pm: The Carmichael candidate ends his speech – which has had a heavy focus on education - saying “teachers matter”.

9.30pm: Mr Bannister says: “Most likely, when the next FNM government holds a Commission of Inquiry into the Carnival or BAMSI scandals we may find that they were financed at the expense of the development of educational facilities for our children.”

He laments the deterioration of schools and says “we will rebuild the morale of our teachers, and your FNM government will attract our brightest young minds to that noble profession”.

9.25pm: Mr Bannister is heavily critical of the PLP's handling of education, saying they “want to keep us all ignorant”.

9.20pm: Carmichael candidate Desmond Bannister is now on stage. He praises the FNM's record in education and says “for us, Bahamian children matter”.

9.15pm: Howard Johnson is now paying tribute to the party founders and says “we must continue to be keepers of the flame” and encourages the audience to get to their feet.

9.10pm: Mr Johnson says the PLP “promised us Project Safe Bahamas, but it was their project to get into the safe of the Bahamas: The Public Treasury”.

9.05pm: Howard Johnson, South Beach candidate, is now delivering his speech. He says “we are going to send them (The PLP) to the political garbage can”.

8.45pm: He says “let's come out more united than we came in.

“We will win Tall Pines, we will win Nassau, we will win the Bahamas.”

8.40pm: Don Saunders, the FNM Tall Pines candidate, has taken to the stage - but before he can begin his speech, Loretta Butler-Turner and her supporters make their big entrance and take their seats.

Mr Saunders gets underway and tells the audience: “The time for change is now”.

He says there has been “scandal after scandal” under the PLP administration.

8.30pm: Fox Hill candidate Shonel Ferguson is now on stage. She encourages those in attendance to tell the PLP they will pay them back at the election.

8.15pm: Lincoln Dean Jr, the first speaker of the night, is on the stage.

6.40pm: Tonight's speakers at the convention are Lincoln Deal Jr, Shonel Ferguson (Fox Hill candidate), Don Saunders (Tall Pines candiate), Howard Johnson (South Beach candidate), Desmond Bannister (Carmichael candidate), Richard Lightbourn (Montagu MP), Jasmine Turner-Dareus, Loretta Butler-Turner (Long Island MP) and, finally, Peter Turnquest (East Grand Bahama MP).

2.40pm: Ahead of tonight's event, which will include a speech from leadership challenger Loretta Butler-Turner, party Chairman Sidney Collie has issued the following statement:

“For four and a half long years Bahamians have suffered through a series of empty rhetoric and broken promises. Failure after failure has piled up leaving families and workers struggling to get by, left to wonder if this PLP Government cares about them at all. The second night of our convention will prove that the Bahamian people truly do matter – because as our theme for the evening is, ‘Because The Country Matters’.

“Baha Mar still sits vacant; an empty hulking testament to the PLP’s many broken promises – this one being their promise of five-thousand good paying jobs. The Bahamian people suffer the effects of crime every day, under this PLP Government murder and sexual assaults have become commonplace. These past four years we have also seen this PLP Government running rampant with corruption, focusing on enriching themselves at the people’s expense.”

“Tonight we will hear about the ramifications of the PLP’s empty rhetoric and broken promises from the following speakers: Mr. Lincoln Deal Jr.; Ms. Shonel Ferguson, FNM Fox Hill Candidate; Mr. Don Saunders, FNM Tall Pines Candidate; Mr. Howard Johnson, FNM South Beach Candidate; Mr. Desmond Bannister, FNM Carmichael Candidate; Mr. Richard Lightbourn, M.P.; Ms. Jasmin Turner-Dareus; Hon. Loretta Butler-Turner, M.P.; Hon. Peter Turnquest, M.P.”

“The Bahamian people are clearly ready for change. For real leadership. For transparency and accountability in government. They are tired of hearing the constant empty rhetoric and broken promises from this PLP Government. The FNM is ready to take steps to bring about the real leadership that the Bahamian people deserve.”

2.35pm: Good afternoon, and welcome to our coverage of Day Two of the FNM Convention. The stories making the headlines from last night's event are:

• FNM leadership rivals united in dance; "no fracture" promises Minnis

• U.S. firm's poll says most F.N.M.s would choose Loretta

• Butler-Turner: Minnis trying to silence me

• McAlpine: Don’t cut anyone from the team

We also have a poll running on the FNM leadership contest: