While he is one of three Free National Movement (FNM) MPs vying to be party leader, Marco City MP Michael Pintard said yesterday that he wished they had come to a conclusion to just put one name forward for the position.
“We are among the senior members of the caucus and it’s a democratic organization,” Pintard said.
“Everybody who believes that they have a reasonable shot at winning and have something substantive to offer — both for the organization and ultimately for the country — they are welcomed to run and so I don’t fundamentally have a difficulty with it.
“I would have preferred that we arrived, in our private discussions, at an arrangement where one person emerges prior to the convention and it’s still not too late for that to happen. I’m open to discussions.”
He said he will conduct a post-mortem of September 16’s general election if he is elected FNM leader.
Pintard said he will also take the party on a homecoming tour across the country “to welcome back our freedom fighters who have not been active and thousands of them who have stayed home”.
“My assignment right now, until the next election, is to repair those dysfunctions that may exist within our organization, to unite all Free National Movement supporters no matter who historically they have supported as the leader …,” he said
“In addition, we need to be collaborative with the private sector, civil society, faith-based organizations — all of them are important because all of them are nation builders. So I’m unconcerned by those kinds of speculations. We intend to perform and the reality is if you don’t perform, you don’t deserve to lead.”
Pintard was surrounded by roughly two dozen supporters as he entered FNM headquarters shortly after 9 a.m. yesterday.
The supporters sang gospel hymns as they followed Pintard into the building.
They chanted Pintard’s name as FNM Secretary General Serfent Rolle began the process of formally filing the nomination papers.
Miriam Emmanuel, who served as MICAL MP from May 2017 to September 2021, was one of the people who seconded Pintard’s nomination.
She said he has “always demonstrated leadership”.
“Michael is someone who will get things done,” she said.
“He is an innovative thinker. He is intelligent. He is aware of what time and era that we are living in right now. Michael has a lot to offer to his country and to the Bahamian people. And so, for this reason, I endorsed him because I know that he has what it takes to take this party and the Bahamian people forward.”
Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly Don Saunders also seconded Pintard’s nomination.
He said Pintard is one of the people the FNMs can look at for “true leadership” in the party.
“He has a plan for the Free National Movement that I think will be able to trickle down when he becomes leader of the country as prime minister,” Saunders said.
“And so Michael has always been able to demonstrate to me and I think has been able to demonstrate to the majority of Free National Movement members that he is in fact the right man for the job. Forward, united — the theme of Michael Pintard speaks to his vision for the party. He wants us to move forward notwithstanding the challenges we’ve had a few months ago in the election.”
Travis Robinson, who served as Bain and Grants Town MP under the Minnis administration, said Pintard is the man “for this time and this season to be able to lead the charge for the Free National Movement and to present the policies and ideologies of what the Free National Movement stands for and represent all of us in the House of Assembly”.
“He is a man, I believe, [who] is fearless enough and bold enough to stand up on issues where others may shy away from,” Robinson said.
The FNM’s convention is set for November 27.
Central Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis and East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson are also running for leader of the party.
Nominations for leader ended yesterday.
The post Pintard hopes to repair and unite FNM appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/pintard-hopes-to-repair-and-unite-fnm/
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