SOME residents of the St. Anne’s constituency are unsettled by the Free National Movement’s (FMN) decision not to renominate Hubert Chipman in the area and some have started urging Mr. Chipman to run as an independent candidate.
Residents, many of them long-time FNM supporters, expressed outrage at what they see as centralised groups like the Executive Committee of the party ignoring the consensus within the constituency without providing a credible reason for doing so.
Mr. Chipman was never officially denied a renomination by the FNM. However, The Tribune understands he would have been informed of the decision to withhold a nomination from him a day before he withdrew from consideration.
The party is expected to replace him with talk show host Jeffery Lloyd.
The Executive Committee of the FNM is not mandated by the party’s constitution to nominate candidates selected by constituency associations. The committee must, however, inform associations about why their selected candidates were rejected, a step the FNM appeared to have skipped in this instance.
Such actions have complicated party Leader Dr. Minnis’ relationship with some party supporters in the St. Anne’s constituency, given what they said was his prior agreement with them to renominate Mr. Chipman in the area.
More than a dozen residents The Tribune spoke to had varying degrees of anger about the situation, some saying they would even reconsider their support of the FNM.
“His word is not his bond,” said Karen Hamilton, one resident who is encouraging Mr. Chipman to run as an independent candidate. Like several others, she suggested Dr. Minnis is “untrustworthy”.
“I wouldn’t advise the Bahamian people to even vote for him,” she said. “Mr. Chipman shouldn’t throw in the towel because he’s a very good member of Parliament. Minnis may have won the battle, but he is going to lose the war.”
Another resident, Quethera Stuart, said several weeks ago she and other residents in the constituency failed in their efforts to discuss Mr. Chipman’s nomination with Dr. Minnis following a monthly meeting at the FNM’s headquarters.
They waited for several hours to see him, she said, but Dr. Minnis avoided talking to them.
“As soon as (Dr. Minnis) came out he just passed us like we were never there,” she said. “A lady went to him and he said he had to go.”
“That’s not the right thing to do. Had that been (former Prime Minister Hubert) Ingraham, he would’ve come out of his meeting and spoken to the people. Dr. Minnis really made us feel like he just don’t care. Mr. Chipman has been on the ground from day one. His constituency office was opened every day, except Saturday and Sunday. Here it is election is next year and you’re going to bring a stranger we don’t know nothing about?
“And the sad thing is when I spoke to Dr. Minnis a few months ago, he told us talk of Mr. Chipman being replaced was just rumours. For him to go back on his word makes you wonder if I should go with the FNM with him as the leader.”
To Kesha Johnson, the secretary in the St Anne’s’ constituency office, no good reason exists to deny Mr Chipman a nomination.
“He’s always willing to get things done and go the extra mile,” she said.
Another resident, who identified herself only as Ms. Rolle, added: “Dr. Minnis should’ve come around and get the consensus about what our constituency is doing and what we want.”
And another resident, Remilda Rolle said although she will still support whomever the FNM puts in the area, she hopes the party reconsiders its decision to drop Mr. Chipman from the ticket.
“I’m a Chipman lover. He was the only person to look out for us in the area,” she said.
By Rashad Rolle, Tribune Staff Reporter
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