It seems as if 2017 can't come soon enough for the opposition. Two years out from the scheduled date for the next general election, Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard confirmed to The Nassau Guardian that the party expects to be rolling out candidates within weeks. This move smacks of misdirection, a bit of sleight of hand to distract from the fact that Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is not entirely battle-ready.
Pintard gave assurances that there is no disaffection toward current leader Dr. Hubert Minnis within the party and that the FNM will go into the next general election with him at the helm. Despite this, however, the nagging question remains: Is the party putting its best foot forward with Minnis?
Also, is the opposition intent on rallying the troops when the competency of the general is still in question? Like it or not, the party needs a few more decisive wins before it can lace up for the sprint to the polls in 2017.
Outside of a few uncharacteristically shining moments, Minnis has been leading a party whose modus operandi is to oppose from behind. The party cannot just sit back and hope that the PLP's faux pas and missteps, no matter how numerous or frequent, will be enough to push it over the finish line.
The FNM must dole out solutions along with its criticisms, remove itself from the theater of Parliament and become a party of effective activists - whether that means reaching out to those in fear of losing jobs at Baha Mar or putting in the long hours with those seeking justice from the Rubis oil spill. Otherwise, the leadership runs the risk of moving from crisis to crisis without making an impact beyond column inches in newspapers and sound bites on radio and television.
We understand that certain prominent individuals within the FNM are pushing for another convention in the fall, but Pintard said the FNM had no plans to have a national convention this year. This revelation comes after the former deputy prime minister, Frank Watson, said that he and other former Cabinet ministers have expressed their concerns to Minnis that the FNM has been lackluster in taking advantage of the opportunities "thrown" at it by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
Watson said: "About a dozen men and women of the FNM, me and (former ministers) C.A. Smith, Janet Bostwick, and others have been in talks with him. He came to my house one evening. We talked for hours about what he needs to do. From the day after he was appointed leader, many, many FNMs have been reaching out trying to advise him, but to no avail."
Truth be told, the FNM may be facing a crisis. Many of the experienced members of the party have lost faith in Minnis. Many of its financiers will not give him a dollar. If he remains the leader at the general election and the moneymen and intelligentsia of the party abandon him, it is unlikely that the FNM would come even close to the PLP. What may happen is the governing party would be a disliked but well-funded and well-organized party going up against two splinter groups that have no shot at being the government.
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