The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Free National Movement (FNM) chair Dr Duane Sands’ bold assertion that the Dr Hubert Minnis era is over brings to mind the latter’s claim about the Hubert Ingraham era being over a decade ago.

If my memory serves me correctly, Minnis uttered those words, which offended many of Ingraham’s diehard loyalists, immediately following the North Abaco by-election, that saw the FNM’s Greg Gomez handily defeated by the Progressive Liberal Party’s Renardo Curry. Curry polled 2,367 votes to Gomez’ 1,513. It was thought back then that the enigmatic Gomez was Ingraham’s handpicked candidate, which might have strained whatever relationship he had with Minnis.

Throughout his tenure as official Opposition leader, Minnis was constantly harassed by hostile elements within the FNM, some of whom were alleged to be Ingrahamites. The greatest challenge Minnis would face would come from the Loretta Butler-Turner camp. Despite the rhetoric in the printed press and social media concerning Minnis’ leadership flaws, neither he nor any of his allies, as far as I’m aware, were physically assaulted.

Current FNM leader Michael Pintard faces a very unique dilemma. His Parliamentary caucus includes the Killarney MP who seems to have diehard loyalists hellbent on opposing the Marco City MP, even to the extent of using physical violence and smear tactics to intimidate Pintard into relinquishing his post he has held since late November.

The unfortunate situation at the FNM Golden Gates Constituency Association meeting at the Gerald Cash Primary School last week, in which an FNM Meritorious Council Member was allegedly assaulted by an alleged Minnisite, reinforces this preception.

The current stand-off between the Pintard and Minnis camps brings to mind the Tonton Macoutes, the secret paramilitary of Haitian dictator Papa Doc François Duvalier, whose regime ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1986. Organised by Duvalier and Clément Barbot in 1959, the Tonton Macoutes, also known as the Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale, were used to harass the opponents and critics of Papa Doc.

The rabid devotion towards Minnis within the FNM among certain elements is preventing the party from galvanising into a cohesive unit and appears to have morphed into a personality cult. This bloc seems to be operating under the delusion that Minnis will regain the leadership reins of the FNM and will eventually become prime minister again. They appear unwilling to accept the results of the September general election. If it is true, as alleged by the major newspapers, that a group of individuals loyal to Minnis, whom I have dubbed the FNM Tonton Macoutes, are attending FNM meetings with the aim of intimidating Pintard and his camp, these people need to be excommunicated. Minnis should also issue a public statement denouncing the alleged violent altercation in addition to distancing himself from the culprits. He should also state unequivocally that he supports Pintard as FNM leader.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport,

Grand Bahama,

August 29, 2022.