The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Free National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard has come out in support of the embattled party, insisting yesterday that the recent decisions of several ratified candidates not to run in the next election does not signal disarray within the organisation’s ranks.

“There is no concern,” Mr Pintard told The Tribune on Thursday.

He has been relatively quiet on both national and FNM matters since announcing his resignation as party chairman and senator on March 21 over questions stemming from his involvement in a controversy that involved fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

Many political observers have speculated that the fiasco spelled the end for Mr Pintard’s career, with some in the FNM reportedly recommending that he remain on the sidelines to avoid further hampering the party’s chances of winning the 2017 general election.

However, Mr Pintard said that during his time away from front-line politics he had not given up his efforts to be elected as the FNM’s standard-bearer for one of the Grand Bahama constituencies.

Mr Pintard said he remains committed to strengthening both FNM and the nation.

“There is no reason I would not offer myself,” he said. “As I said before, and will continue to say, there is no concern, I am very clear on why I have been active in national life since I have been a teenager. The decisions of others doesn’t affect mine, I think the FNM is a prime place, the best place if you ask me.”

Mr Pintard’s sentiments come as the FNM continues to grapple with the loss of several candidates and rumblings of even more departures.

On Tuesday, the party’s South Beach candidate Howard Johnson cited “personal and private family matters” as he dropped out of the race.

That move came less than week after Bain and Grants Town’s candidate Leonard Sands announced that he was officially ending his candidacy for the constituency and after North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly announced that he wasn’t seeking re-election.

In addition to these moves, there is uncertainty over Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn’s future with the party and rumours that St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman may not be renominated as well.

Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner has also been the subject of a critical petition by some of her constituents who want the FNM to choose another candidate for the area.

Mrs Butler-Turner, Mr Lightbourn and Mr Chipman were among six FNM MPs who pushed FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis to have an early convention. They also criticised him in a strongly worded letter to the FNM’s Central Council earlier this year.

Expressing some level of apprehension over discussing the current turmoil in the FNM, Mr Pintard maintained that a unified and focused party is what would be needed to succeed moving forward.

“I am confident that if we work as a team and if we are responsive to the voices of the people we will be a strong force in the upcoming general election,” he said.

Mr Pintard argued that the PLP has failed the Bahamian electorate and as a result, needed to be voted out of office.

Shifting the focus to the incompetence of the government, he pointed to the PLP’s failures with the 2016-2017 budget, the establishment of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) without a legal framework and Baha Mar’s problems as the reasons voters are weary of the government.

“The government lacks transparency and has proven on several occasions that they must not be trusted. The people of the Bahamas can’t sustain the mishaps of the Progressive Liberal Party any longer,” he said.

“This government is one all for theatrics. The government had no reason to pat itself on the back for the Baha Mar action announced recently by the prime minster. The matter was exacerbated by them. Their action is what brought the entire Baha Mar matter to this point. How does one want credit for addressing a problem they have caused?

“Politicians tend to be the stumbling block for improvement,” Mr Pintard said. “And that proves to be the case in this matter. While most of the elements of this agreement are still up in the air, myself, like every other Bahamian is waiting patiently to see how this all plays out.”

The claims process for the stalled resort’s long list of creditors is underway with officials expecting reconstruction efforts to reconvene later this month.