FNM 'new faces' in GB not ready

Tue, Jan 17th 2012, 08:18 AM

Dear Editor,
 
We now have a fairly good idea why Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing abandoned his Marco City constituency in Grand Bahama.
Norris Bain, who has been selected by the governing Free National Movement (FNM) to replace Laing in Marco City, provided what appears to be convincing evidence that Laing was forced to desert Marco City because the leadership of the FNM decided he could not win against Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) candidate Gregory Moss.
In his maiden address as a politician at the FNM's nationally televised launch of its Grand Bahama candidates at the Grand Lucaya Resort in Freeport on Sunday, Bain thanked Laing for "stepping aside to allow me to represent the good constituents" of Marco City.  Bain went on to thank Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham for having "the fortitude to arrange this new group of candidates to take Grand Bahama to the next level".
This clearly suggests that Ingraham had the final say in Laing's decision to forsake the residents of Marco City, which is not surprising given the fact that Ingraham more likely than not dictatorially hand-picked all of the candidates that the FNM has chosen to contest the next election.
Laing, of course, will discover that Ingraham, who is his mentor, did not do him any favors when he convinced him to run for the Fort Charlotte constituency in New Providence.  The word out of New Providence is that Dr. Andre Rollins, the PLP's candidate for Fort Charlotte, will give Laing a worse beating than he would have gotten from Gregory Moss in Marco City.
Meanwhile, it was obvious from their addresses that the three 'new faces' that Ingraham has picked to run in Grand Bahama are not ready for the challenges that lie ahead for them in the political arena as they seek to erase from the memories of Grand Bahamians just how bad and vindictive the FNM government has been towards Grand Bahama over the past four-plus years.
Peter Turnquest, who is the FNM's candidate for East Grand Bahama, spent considerable time thanking and praising former Housing Minister Kenneth Russell for the good job that Russell did as the representative for High Rock, the constituency that comprises most of East Grand Bahama.
Surely Turnquest must be aware of the fact that Russell was forced to retire as MP for High Rock in the most brutal manner by Ingraham, who rubbed 'pepper' into Russell's 'emotional wounds' by sending Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette to inform him that he would not be running again.  The question that political novice Turnquest should have asked himself before he voiced high praise for Russell was this: If Russell was such a good representative, then why did Ingraham decide to fire him in such a humiliating manner?
Pakesia Edgecombe, who has been given the task of trying to unseat PLP incumbent Obie Wilchcombe in West Grand Bahama and Bimini, for the most part during her address exhibited the speaking skills she developed as a news anchor at ZNS News 13 in Grand Bahama.  However, the question that I have for Pakesia is this: While you were the main news anchor at ZNS News 13, did you agree with Ingraham's vindictive cancellation of national broadcasts of ZNS news out of Grand Bahama mainly for what many are convinced were personal reasons aimed at downgrading Freeport's importance as The Bahamas' second major city?
I've already mentioned Norris Bain's political 'foot-in-mouth' remarks, so it is quite obvious that the three 'new faces' chosen by Ingraham as candidates in Grand Bahama will be nothing more than 'political groupies' who will be so much in awe of Ingraham that they will not dare question any deleterious decision he makes, thus solidifying his dictatorial control of the FNM.
Of course, the two incumbent FNM representatives who are seeking reelection - Neko Grant in Central Grand Bahama and Kwasi Thompson in Pineridge - have already demonstrated that they are also afraid of Ingraham's wrath by remaining silent over the past four-plus years as Ingraham totally neglected Grand Bahama and rigidly imposed policies that wrecked Grand Bahama's economy, resulting in an unemployment rate in excess of 20 percent and tremendous pain and suffering by far too many residents of Grand Bahama.
Grant at one time was considered to be at the top of Ingraham's list of incumbents to be denied a nomination, but he has unquestionably benefitted from the brutal manner in which Ingraham fired his good friend, former Housing Minister Kenneth Russell, who subsequently referred to Ingraham as a "dictator" and a "tyrant".  Grant showed that he was appreciative of being given "new political life" by repeatedly thanking Ingraham for giving him the opportunity to "anchor" the FNM's Grand Bahama team.
What's more, despite reports that many FNMs in Grand Bahama are not at all pleased with the slate of candidates personally selected by Ingraham, so much so that some of them reportedly boycotted the launch of the FNM candidates, Grant predicted that the FNM will win all five seats in Grand Bahama.
No one in their right mind who lives in Grand Bahama would agree with such a prediction.  Indeed, the opposite may be true.  I'm convinced that the PLP will win a minimum of four seats in Grand Bahama and there is a better-than-average possibility that incoming Prime Minister Perry Christie will have five Grand Bahama members of the House of Assembly to help him restore good governance to this country.
 
- Oswald T. Brown

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