The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG


Tribune Staff Reporter


ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis last night announced that he will run as an independent candidate for Killarney in the next general election, a decision that would sever his formal ties with the Free National Movement if followed through.

Dr Minnis made the announcement during an appearance on the television programme Beyond The Headlines with Shenique Miller, ending months of speculation after previously saying only that he would contest the seat.

By running as an independent, Dr Minnis would automatically cease to be a member of the party he once led, following a period of public tension with the current FNM leadership headed by Michael Pintard. Senator Michaela Barnett Ellis has been ratified as the party’s candidate for Killarney.

“I will be running as an independent candidate. However, I still hold on to the core values and principles of the Free National Movement, as put down by our forefathers, by Cecil Wallace Whitfield and others,” Dr Minnis said.

Dr Minnis said he is not assembling a slate of candidates and assured voters that Killarney can expect the same style of leadership they have known.

“I will continue to lead with respect, with integrity, with honesty and inclusion. You know, one of the problems Sir Cecil faced, there were many who did not necessarily like him, and they fought against him. What he did, in spite of them fighting him, he invited them and embraced them into the body,” he said.

“That’s what politics is all about. It’s about growth. You don’t push them away. You embrace them and you show them love. That’s what the Bible talks about. The Bible talks about love, not hatred, and that was the core value.”

Despite his rift with Mr Pintard, Dr Minnis said he harbours no ill feelings toward the party and expressed confidence in his longstanding relationship with constituents as he seeks re-election as an independent.

“It’s not necessarily trusting an independent. It’s trusting what they have, whom they knew. They know about me. They don’t know the others who are trying to get what I have,” he said.

“That’s the situation. We have a relationship. We are a family. I love my Killarney people. Their Killarney people love their representative. They will keep their representative so that they can further build so that we can put the new things in place that we wanted to.”

Dr Minnis repeatedly emphasised that he has remained rooted in Killarney, contrasting himself with politicians who have moved between constituencies.

Joining Senator Barnett Ellis and Dr Minnis in the race for Killarney is the PLP’s former Senator Robyn Lynes. Dr Minnis appeared unfamiliar with both women, despite Senator Barnett Ellis being a member of the FNM and a Killarney resident.

He said he has never met Ms Lynes, adding: “If she stood in front of me, I wouldn’t know her”.

“What I do know and what I’ve heard, I know that she’s active PLP, and what I know of the PLP, they are good, excellent at glitz and glamor. Killarney will finally, we will have some glitz and some glamor going on in Killarney so we’re waiting for that.”

Dr Minnis said residents have told him they are unhappy with both major political parties, with some expressing frustration to the point of saying they are not voting.

Dr Minnis, speaking to Tribune Business earlier in the day, also asserted his administration would never have agreed to the lender’s home country being the legal forum for resolving any disputes, after it emerged that the China Export-Import Bank funding will be subject to Chinese law with Beijing as the location for any arbitration proceedings.