Even as his tenuous grip on political leadership weakens further and the Free National Movement (FNM) prepares for a changing of the guard, former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis appears increasingly delusional.
Instead of humbly acknowledging abuse of the public’s trust, Minnis continues to talk with the confidence of the competent authority, touting a record that failed to secure the FNM another term in office.
The party intends to hold a convention in November and elect a new leader.
Presumably, that new leader will also be leader of the official opposition, if the new leader is one of the elected FNM members.
If the leader is outside the House of Assembly, then Minnis could conceivably still serve as leader of the official opposition beyond November but we suspect he would eventually face a revolt, as he did in 2016, when a majority of his party’s parliamentary caucus wrote to the governor general and had him stripped of the title and the accompanying duties.
Minnis seems not to “get” that the September 16 vote was a referendum on him, as the election was on Perry Christie four and a half years ago.
While many FNMs continue their spin — pointing out that voter turnout was below 70 percent — this does not diminish the fact that voters strongly rejected Minnis and the FNM at the polls.
While the FNM secured 91,413 votes in 2017; it got just 46,030 in 2021.
Voter turnout was also down considerably. It was 88.4 percent in 2017 compared to 65 percent in 2021.
The FNM won 35 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly in 2017.
Minnis had constantly beat his chest claiming the party will win “all 39” and declaring early in 2020 that there will be no change to the boundaries.
He let the constitutionally-mandated Constituencies Commission go through the motions of preparing a report, then dissolved Parliament before it could present its report — an act that showed him to be anti-democratic and showing a blatant disregard to the spirit of the constitution, even though there was no actual constitutional violation.
Minnis went into the election an out-of-touch and arrogant leader.
His party won just seven seats.
He emerged from the election not publicly demonstrating that he understood why his party was rejected so brutally.
Minnis’ decision to call that snap election was a major miscalculation with many FNMs left baffled as to why he called an early election as opposed to using the remaining eight months of his term to get more done, see vaccinations pay off and the economy gain more momentum.
Even in defeat, Minnis is consumed with himself, his leadership and determined to focus the public’s attention on Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) misdeeds, seemingly unsatisfied that his relentless efforts to demonize the PLP leader failed to pay off.
Speaking to reporters after he was sworn in as leader of the official opposition on Friday, Minnis said he was serving in that role because he was “selected” by the parliamentary caucus to do so.
By their actions not to take the dramatic step in blocking Minnis as opposition leader, we will have to accept that he is correct, that they want him to lead them, although we have to wonder what Marco City MP-elect Michael Pintard thinks about that declaration.
We also wait to see what becomes of Minnis after the November convention.
The former prime minister told reporters on Friday, “I have a very powerful opposition group”, again demonstrating his absolute leader tendencies.
He also said the FNM caucus will “encourage, if not force” the government to follow the policies it adopted because his administration had knowledge of where it wanted to take the Bahamian people and The Bahamas.
Pledging that the official opposition will be effective, in spite of its small number, the former prime minister said “a little axe can cut down a big tree”.
He added that the FNM is “very familiar” with PLP behavior and “the things that they have done in the past” and will be “looking out for them”.
Minnis warned, “…if they try to deviate from what we consider normal, we will deal with that appropriately and ensure that the Bahamian populace understands it and knows it also.”
An opposition leader is not out of line to pledge to hold the government accountable but it is painfully difficult to listen to Minnis make “good governance” demands, given his own administration’s abuse of the people’s trust.
When he was sworn in as prime minister on May 11, 2017, Minnis pledged to honor that trust “with an unwavering commitment to good governance, the rule of law, transparency and accountability”.
“Today represents a new day for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” he said.
“Today also represents a renewal and reaffirmation of our democratic heritage. We will honor this mandate for change.”
One letter writer admonished at the time: “They ought not allow themselves to become intoxicated or deluded by this win. The FNM won because the Bahamian people voted against the PLP, not for the quality of their leader, candidates or manifesto.
“As a result, they have been given a mandate by the Bahaman people. Should they fail to deliver, they may find themselves just as unceremoniously discharged from their duties as this last crew of PLPs were.”
And so, the FNM is now on the outside looking in with a leader who continues his grasp for political relevance.
We see no hope for the FNM in its efforts to heal as long as Minnis leads the party.
It is wise that the party has decided to move on from him and try to find its way beyond the Minnis era.
As voters have decided the country is in need of a “new day”, the FNM, too, is in need of renewal.
The post The deep, dark pit of delusion appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-deep-dark-pit-of-delusion/
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