The FNM was defeated on May 7. But it is clearly not in a defeatist mood as evidenced by its special one-day convention held at the Holy Trinity Activities Centre this past Saturday. The theme, "Ignite the Future" was prescient.
Just three weeks after its defeat, the FNM has done something often rare in Bahamian party politics. It has placed a new generation of leaders in the three top posts of the party, namely Dr. Hubert Minnis as leader, Loretta Butler-Turner as deputy leader and Charles Maynard as chairman. The FNM's Senate team is led by Senator Desmond Bannister.
After the FNM's convention, the political landscape resembles an Anancy-like tale charged with irony. The PLP's counterparts of the four opposition leaders mentioned are all of a certain age or have been in frontline politics for quite some time.
Curiously, the new government seems dated in some ways while the party that was defeated is already putting forward a fresh image and new faces of leadership. Both victory and defeat contain rewards as well as complexities and challenges.
Ironies abound. The offspring of two prominent PLP families, the Butlers (Loretta Butler-Turner) and the Maynards (Charles Maynard) are today a part of the core leadership of the FNM.
Why did these offspring of prominent PLP families leave the party of their parents and/or grandparents? Part of the answer may speak to a long-term challenge for the PLP and a long-term opportunity for the FNM.

Legendary
Sir Milo Butler could not have envisioned a grandchild of his, a granddaughter no less, in the number two spot of the FNM. And the legendary former chairman of the PLP, Andrew "Dud" Maynard, lived to see his boy become chairman of that other party.
Another convert to the FNM, outgoing Party Leader Hubert Ingraham, addressed the convention in a morning session. In a moving address the former prime minister recounted his record, and that of the FNM. It is an extraordinary record that will be difficult to match including accomplishments that have transformed our democracy.
Today, Bahamians take for granted that the broadcast media is free of state control. The freeing of the airwaves by Hubert Ingraham and the FNM was a singular moment in the deepening of democracy.
Not only were the airwaves freed, so too the voice of a new generation of Bahamians and other voices liberated after decades of fear of criticizing Sir Lynden Pindling and his party. Gone was the fear of intimidation and victimization.
And yet, the man who liberated a medium that may have played a role in his defeat is demonized as a dictator by some who happily tolerated government monopoly of the broadcast media, a typical feature of dictatorial politics.
That some of these have used a freed broadcast media to lob their charges is more than irony. It is the kind of hypocrisy which suggests the motivations of those who rendered unto their Caesar autocratic and absolutist control of the broadcast media.

Democrat
For his freeing of the airwaves alone, history will record Hubert Ingraham as a committed democrat.

While the former head of government may be unpopular in various quarters at the moment, he will have something more lasting - an extraordinary legacy.
Though still recovering from its defeat, it is perhaps its overall legacy in government and that of the past five years that has the FNM in a fighting spirit. And, though having lost an election, the party faithful appear confident about their record and chances for electoral recovery.
Moreover, they realize that while they have considerable work to do, that the PLP did not gain a majority of the votes, and that governments tend to lose support over time.
Both party Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis and Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner gave upbeat speeches outlining some of the key areas on which the FNM in opposition will fight. The party seems ready to move forward guided by three Rs: renewal, rebuilding and resolve.
That resolve and confidence about its future were showcased by Sosa Man in his "Dreaming in Colour" and in remarks by recent COB graduate Anwar Lewis. Less than a month after its loss, the FNM has begun the process of rebuilding by choosing new leadership.
It will now need to mount an effective opposition not only by holding the government accountable. More broadly the FNM will need to fine-tune its message.
It must propose also a vision for the country that resonates with younger voters and captures the hearts and imaginations of those critical voters it failed to attract on May 7.

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