Marching orders

Free National Movement (FNM) Leader and Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis instructed candidates during a Tuesday night meeting to go out and campaign because the next general election is coming, The Nassau Guardian was told.

The news will likely further fan news that Minnis may call an election as early as August. 

The party will also ratify its last four candidates to run in the next election tonight.

Sources in the party said Tuesday’s meeting was meant to give candidates guidance and a briefing on what is expected of them. 

One source downplayed Minnis’ comments saying that they are nothing new and that he has strongly encouraged candidates to go out and campaign in previous meetings.

There is also no expectation among people in the party that the current Parliament will meet again. 

Following the budget debate, Parliament broke until September 22. 

FNM Chairman Carl Culmer said yesterday, “We have four more to ratify and hopefully, that should be done soon.”

Culmer said the party’s candidates are “far superior” to the offerings of other parties, arguing that the FNM’s candidates have a vast amount of knowledge and experience to move the country forward. 

Culmer also said the party has done much to remove the stigma of corruption from The Bahamas adding that The Bahamas is now listed as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. 

He said the party does not want to see the good work it has done disrupted. 

The Guardian understands that the remaining candidates set to be ratified by the party’s council tonight are Minnis for Killarney; Carmichael MP Desmond Bannister; Director of Labour John Pinder for Fox Hill; and Welbourne Bootle for Pineridge. 

Pinder said yesterday that he expects to be ratified tonight, and once successful, he will retire from the public service. 

The FNM has ratified 35 candidates for the next election.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has ratified all 39 of its candidates.

On June 4, Minnis called on those who need to register to vote to do so with haste.

On Tuesday, Acting Parliamentary Commissioner Lavado Duncanson said there has been an uptick in registration numbers.

As of July 13, 191,233 voters were on the register – 132,473 on New Providence, 30,560 on Grand Bahama, and 28,200 people in the Family Islands.

There were 181,000 registered voters in the 2017 election, with a voter turnout of around 88 percent.

The next election is scheduled to take place by May 2022.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/marching-orders/