Dear Editor,

Now that the political dust, so to speak, has settled and Hubert Alexander Minnis (FNM-Killarney) has been re-elected as leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), that party and its leadership cadre must get down to the real job at hand.
The traditional and constitutional job of the major opposition party is to oppose the agenda of the governing party and to critique its performance or lack of the same. Indeed, the FNM must hold "them" feet to the fire and at all times demand clear and accountable action on the part of the executive of the day.
During the past two-and-a-half years, the FNM literally was embroiled in debilitating questions of leadership and back-stabbing. Many, even to this very day, within the FNM are not able to stand Minnis as a person, much less as a leader. We all have our different persona and characteristics, as it should be. Minnis is Minnis and whatever you see is precisely what you are going to get. It would be impossible, I submit, for Minnis to make himself over.
Loretta Butler-Turner (FNM-Long Island), former deputy leader of the FNM, ran a good race for the leadership of her party. From day one, however, I publicly told her that her candidacy was doomed to fail for several very valid and overt reasons. She paid me absolutely no mind and proceeded to launch her Don Quoixte political suicide.
Loretta, at some future juncture, will be a political force to reckon with. All she needs to do right now is to sit small and fully support the leadership of Minnis. This is no time for her to sulk or to burn the midnight oil trying to figure out "what went wrong". She is the undisputed "first lady of the FNM" and commands the respect of a large swath of the rank-and-file of that party. She remains popular in Long Island and it would take a political earthquake for the PLP to unseat her down there.
The tipping point against Loretta's candidacy was the fact that, unfortunately, a large number of Bahamians, especially the female of the species, are firm believers in a male-dominated society. Loretta's candidacy was doomed even before she announced it, after much coyness and half denials. She came across as bombastic; ill-advised and totally unprepared, at this time, for the leadership of the FNM.
Minnis, himself, admitted that he has been called many things by many different individuals and has acknowledged his perceived weaknesses. To have done so is a mark of a potential leader and the emergence of one who is comfortable in his/her own skin. With his landslide electoral victory Minnis now has a golden opportunity to recreate the FNM and to shape it into whatever shape or form he wants, in consultation with party leaders.
I have always held the view, and still do, that the former leader of the FNM is waiting in the wings of the FNM for his curtain call to return to center stage. It is not only the PLP that Minnis has to now watch out for but the potential of a universal cry within the FNM for the former leader to return in time for the scheduled 2017 general elections.
Both Minnis and Christie are good men and I am sure that they mean well for The Bahamas. In fact, Minnis would make a great prime minister, if Philip Brave Davis (PLP-Cat Island) were not to contest the marathon.
Christie and Minnis are, however, political pygmies when compared or contrasted to the former prime minister.
There is any number of tipping points in the nation today and soon they will change the rules of the game for the betterment of all Bahamians. The most obvious one is the implementation of several initiatives relative to illegal immigration and migration. The policy is a good one as it is simple and simply requires what should always have been the law of the land. Every foreign national in The Bahamas should have a passport or some or travel document issued by his/her country of origin.
No work permit will be issued here in The Bahamas unless there is certification by the embassy of our country in their native land, etc. Children who are caught up in raids and have to be deported will still be eligible to make application upon turning 18 years of age for citizenship, etc.
Crown land must be made available on a sustainable and committed basis to potential Bahamian entrepreneurs and first time homeowners, especially the latter. The cost of residential land in New Providence is far too high for the individual. Descendants from a particular family island could be invited to apply for a grant of Crown land, say an acre, on which to construct a first time home and commute between the capital and that island as need be.
Next year should be an excellent year for most if not all of us, depending on attitude, aptitude and belief in a higher power. The tipping points are what they are but, in all things, to God be the glory.

- Ortland H. Bodie Jr.

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