Dear Editor,
Branville McCartney should have followed the honorable example of former Prime Ministers Hubert Ingraham and Perry G. Christie by resigning as leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party, after leading the party to its second consecutive election loss in five years. McCartney failed to win Bamboo Town in 2012 and 2017 after having won it in 2007 as the FNM's standard bearer. In 2012 he gained 1,022 votes; this year he got just 604 votes. McCartney's political brand has greatly diminished since 2012. In conceding defeat on the night of the election in 2012, Ingraham informed the nation that he would be retiring from active politics. He stepped down as Free National Movement (FNM) leader and eventually as North Abaco MP that year. Last month, after losing Centreville to the FNM's Reece Chipman, Christie decided to stand down as Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader. In both instances, it was in keeping with important conventions of the westminster system of government. Even the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling finally decided to retire as PLP leader after leading his party to its second consecutive loss in 1997.
In December of 2016, after having been appointed to the Senate by then Opposition Leader Loretta Butler-Turner, McCartney called on FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis to resign as leader. McCartney's comment about the possibility of the FNM losing its status as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and becoming a third party was interpreted by many observers as nothing more than a threat. I believe McCartney was of the view that his DNA party would once again hurt the FNM as it had in 2012. McCartney's posture came off as arrogant. Some six months after the FNM Rebel Seven's attempted coup and McCartney's irrational demands of the FNM leader, Minnis is now prime minister and the FNM holds 35 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly.
After having won the government four times in the last 25 years, the FNM must now be considered the most powerful political organization in The Bahamas. On the other hand, the DNA, after having gained 13,000 or 8.5 per cent of the votes in 2012, managed to gain under 10,000 votes in last month's election -- clear evidence that the party lacks sustaining power and is an out-and-out fringe party. Last month's election reinforces the viewpoint that The Bahamas is deeply entrenched in a two-party system, with no room to spare for third parties. The PLP and FNM will continue to dominate the political landscape in the foreseeable future. DNA executives must now accept the sobering fact that their party is going nowhere with McCartney at the helm. They must demand that he resigns as leader, seeing that he appears to have no plans of doing so on his own. Maybe Arinthia Komolafe and Youri Kemp would be better options moving forward. The DNA cannot win with McCartney.
- Kevin Evans
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