The Free National Movement (FNM) last night ratified its last four candidates for the next general election.
The candidates announced were Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. Hubert Minnis, Killarney; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister, Carmichael; Director of Labour John Pinder, Fox Hill; and Welbourne Bootle, Pineridge.
Dozens of FNM supporters showed up at Holy Trinity Activities Centre for the ratification.
One supporter walked around with a bell which he rang sporadically while chanting, “Ready to go.”
The ratification came amid widespread speculation that Minnis will call an early election.
FNM Chairman Carl Culmer said the party has been working and campaigning since it was elected to office in May 2017.
“In order to win an election, you need to start working,” Culmer told The Nassau Guardian.
“We started working from day one. We came in when the country was in dire straits with financing. We were able to get the finances back up, get the country to where investors look at the country in a positive light.”
The next general election, which is not due until May 2022, will be held against a backdrop of twin crises – Hurricane Dorian, a powerful Category 5 storm that ravaged Abaco and Grand Bahama in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latter brought The Bahamas’ tourism product to a halt last year and resulted in a state of emergency, which has been in place since March 2020 and is expected to end next month.
As tourism slowly bounces back, Pinder said he hopes he will be able to ensure the future of Fox Hill residents is secured through tourism-related economic empowerment.
“We have to do the best we can to cause Fox Hill to be a tourism attraction because that’s where the money is,” he said.
“We have four million tourists that come to The Bahamas each year, come to New Providence. If we get half a million of them to come to Fox Hill and spend $50, we can get economic freedom in Fox Hill.
“I think too often persons look for handouts. We have to now make it possible for them to make their own money. I want them to move from the blocks to the banks.”
Bannister, who became deputy prime minister following the resignation of FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest in November, said he was “so happy” that the party decided to ratify him again.
He said his constituency will ensure that the Minnis administration is re-elected.
“Carmichael has so much progress [under] this administration and we have a whole lot more to do,” Bannister said.
“We have from Flamingo Gardens straight to Golden Gates #2, Silver Gates – all of those communities – so we have a lot to do in Carmichael and the people of Carmichael know of our commitments.”
Bootle, officer in charge of Road Traffic on Grand Bahama, is running in a constituency whose current MP is the controversial Frederick McAlpine, an FNM who intends to run as an independent.
Bootle said he is confident he will secure Pineridge for the FNM.
“My concentration is not on other persons,” he said.
“My concentration is on Pineridge, the people of Pineridge. I’ve touched them. Like I said, I’ve touched over 1,000 homes already that were visited by my team and myself. I am hearing what their concerns are.
“We spoke already and I’m trying to find out what it is we can do together, what they can do instead of me coming and pushing something down their throat. They are ready and we started some things that we are about to complete with some of the younger persons in the community who I have already assisted in terms of giving them licenses to start their businesses.
“They are now focused on doing their businesses and that’s what I am about. I’m about the community of Pineridge.”
The FNM and the Progressive Liberal Party have both ratified 39 candidates.
On July 4, the prime minister 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 post The final four appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-final-four/
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