The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Free National Movement last night conceded that mistakes were made during the party’s last term in office but said the FNM needs to dedicate itself to winning the trust of Bahamians if it intends to again ascend to government.

During the second night of the party’s convention, party officials were adamant that the FNM needed to learn from the missteps of the past.

Speakers also capitalised on the Davis administration’s decision to add value added tax to breadbasket items and medications, painting a picture of a nation now strained by added financial hardship because items that were zero-rated under the previous Minnis administration were now subject to VAT.

The decision has drastically affected the cost of living, which has been compounded by inflation, speakers contended.

Among them East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson said both the party and country had reached a “defining moment”.

Meanwhile attorney Ramona Farquharson-Seymour said the FNM must find a way to better connect with supporters.

“We must never take our FNMs for granted again,” she said.

“We must never allow any one person or select group to operate with impunity,” she also said.

For his part, Mr Thompson said there were a number of things that could be done to ease the burden on Bahamians. He said removing VAT on breadbasket items and restoring the VAT rate to 12 percent were among the options.

He also claimed that there were major budget cuts on the horizon in the Davis administration’s impending June budget including $30m to be cut from the Ministry of Education’s budget, along with $10m and $5m from the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s budgets respectively.

“While the election is over, have we learned the lessons from this election? My mother used to tell me, ‘boy if you don’t listen you will feel,’” Mr Thompson told supporters gathered at Atlantis’ Grand Ballroom. “We are a family, right? Real talk I don’t know about you but I felt every blow.

“Do you remember where you were when you heard we lost Carmichael, Andros, Abaco, Eleuthera? I want you to remember that feeling and then make up in your mind that I don’t ever want to feel that way ever again.

“FNMs, failure is not final. I will say like Muhammed Ali said: ‘You don’t lose if you get knocked down, you only lose if you stay down.’

“FNMs what now? What will we do now? We can cry and complain about our past mistakes - and there were mistakes – or we can acknowledge them and learn from them. I am done with blaming and I am done with complaining.”

Regarding the government adding VAT to breadbasket items and medications, Mr Thompson said: “Just last week I was at the food store and was stopped by a lady. She said ‘Mr Thompson do you see these prices?’

“I said yes, they are getting bad. She said ‘I thought they said it was a new day.’ I replied ‘Yes, it is a new day. But they didn’t say it was going to be a good day’.

“Thousands of Bahamians are asking themselves the same question and beginning to realise the PLP had no plan, they were not ready and they are not new.”

He also said: “The PLP told us this was going to be a new day but there were some secrets they didn’t tell us. They didn’t say a word about VAT added to breadbasket items and medication.”

He also said the party must demonstrate that it has the capability to carry out and deliver.

“This requires building trust and respect of the people we wish to serve. We must work our butts off to earn the trust and confidence of the Bahamian people again. This is not an entitlement, it must be earned, quite frankly we must work harder than we have ever worked to get it back,” he said.

“We cannot sit back and expect the people to support us just because we are red. Those days are gone. We must not just talk about better but we must do better and show them better.”

When he took the stage, St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright, who is also vying for deputy leader of the FNM, said the party needed to retool after its election loss of September 2021.

“In the words of Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield, ‘Democracy and truth are hard and demanding taskmasters.’

“So unless we have been sufficiently admonished and challenged by these words of Sir Cecil our efforts at this convention will miss the mark and fail and so will the fate of our desires to recapture the confidence and the imagination of the Bahamian people at the ballot box.

"We have been sent back to the political sidelines to rethink, retool, re-engineer then reapply.

“This convention is a conversation about the future of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and in so being it is not a conversation that needs to be limited to our own ranks nor is it a Nassau-centric conversation. It requires the involvement of all Bahamians from every island, every settlement and execution of our collective efforts as a people.

“So, to Bahamians everywhere tonight we say to you loudly and clearly, we heard you on September 16. The Free National Movement hears you. Our leader Michael Pintard hears you. We got the message loud and clear. We will respond,” Mr Cartwright said.

Last night’s event also brought local talent to the stage including artists Wendi, Sweet Emily and Dyson Knight.