by Edward Hutcheson
The writer of “Front Porch” is clearly of the opinion that Dr. Hubert Minnis does not have what it takes to lead this nation. His “Opinion” on page A5 in your October 9, 2014, supports this fact. He writes, “In Minnis, the party is faced with a leader who is dragging down the party’s popularity, especially with many younger voters. It is faced with someone most voters seem to have concluded would be a disaster as prime minister”. This would be an apt summary for this one-sided offering. The Front Porch column written by Simon usually gives an opinion that is highly valued by the Bahamian public, and it is unlike this person to go out on such a limb; maybe someone else is writing the column, because the average Bahamian would not agree that the FNM is a popular party; except in situations like the one we are facing now. Did Simon know that there would be such a long adjournment of the house with so many outstanding national issues unresolved? With all of the blows he has thrown at the leader of the PLP and the DNA, it would have been expected that “Simon” would have given some advice or leading as to a solution. Not so. His presentation ends where it begins. Nicki Kelly once used a description that describes this kind of writing as one-sided vitriol. I would like to answer the question that he attempted to create in the minds of the readers who took the time to read the article and felt like they were being dragged into the political grave he attempted to dig for the good Doctor( excuse the pun).
Since he did not give an option for leadership, it is possible to presume that “Simon” could be a “closet PLP”. If he is attempting to compare Dr.Minnis’s style of leadership to one that Bahamians find attractive and appealing, he is obviously out to lunch. The only time this nation has embraced true leadership is when it had to. If “Simon” is as old as I think he is, he knows what the deal is when it comes to Bahamians and politics. His references to Branville McCartney shows that he does not even support any of the options for leadership, and, why he left Loretta Butler-Turner out of the conversation is a question he may have plans to answer in the future; but I will attempt to make a go of it here.
“Simon” is probably a member of the status quo who is adept at playing all sides of the political landscape and has probably arrived at the place where he sees himself as being instrumental in the choice of Prime Ministers, but being a part of the status quo, one that seems to thrive regardless of which party is elected, he does not have any time for any political leader who is talking sense and wants to bring a stop to what is an out “of control, socio-economic, political system” that gets its fuel from the Public Treasury. This is the problem that Dr.Minnis represents for persons like “Simon”. It is also the problem that Hubert Ingraham presented. All of the leadership struggles in the FNM find their genesis in the attitude of persons (I call them the silver-spoon wannabe’s) who have placed their political baskets too high, primarily because they were “born with something”. They never experience the success they think they are entitled to because they do not have the ability to “go over the hill”, even though many of them have their navel strings buried within view of an outhouse. They have forgotten that we are all free to place our baskets as high as we want as long as we are prepared to work and pay our dues.
This brings us to the alternatives, mentioned and not mentioned. Branville McCartney dug his political grave on the day someone conned him into believing that he could be the leader of the FNM or the leader of this nation, before his time. His situation has been compounded by a very real political hypothesis. It is speculated that because of his connection to the “status quo” that he is another closet member of the PLP and his close family ties to the Prime Minister only helps to concretize that speculation. His law firm is a key player in the “650 million dollar Stellar Waste Project”, and in politics it really does not matter if the powers that be at Stellar selected his Law Firm to represent them. Bahamians still believe that if you get anything of worth and it is connected to the administration in power, you are a part of that group even though you make noise in public as an “opposer”. But, if he is still the leader of the DNA when campaigning starts for 2017, a connection is going to be made between the him and all of the players in the Stellar saga and that is going to leave him and the DNA playing catch-up at every turn. It may be similar to the way the PLP used the crime statistics against the FNM in 2012. Politicians really do not care about what you really did as long as they can make the public believe that you did something wrong that you did not do.
Simon did not mention Loretta Butler-Turner, but she may be what his article is all about. This week she has come into the revelation that she is playing with the big boys and she will have to put her big girl clothes on. The “now you are invited, not invited” episode that played out last week in the tabloids was not really necessary and if that was an attempt to send a message to Dr.Minnis, it did not go as planned. I wonder if Simon knew about the “snap” convention before the Deputy Leader found out? She may be forgetting that she is the Deputy Leader of the FNM and all the posturing she has been doing in the past couple of months is about to come to a place of resolve late next month. The fact that the house has adjourned for six weeks and the launching of this “salvo” by Simon could be the starting point for a lot of things, but I do not think anyone expected Dr.Minnis to make this kind of move. Reminds us of a move that Pindling or Ingraham would do. She had better fall in line, because if the leader of the DNA makes a courtesy call on the leader of the FNM, who knows what kind of revelations he is going to bring to the table about events leading up to the 2012 Elections and the Stellar Energy Project.
Dr. Minnis is showing, bit by bit, that he is not the person that the writer wants him to be portrayed as. He may not fit the profile of a “political dandy” who likes to play dress-up at any and every occasion, but he has a history of being a hard worker and an efficient administrator; but then these are traits that cause a turning of the stomach for some politicians. Like the FNM leader before him he knows what it takes to be prepared and unlike most of his detractors he does not have the baggage of being a member of the status quo; that faceless group with a penchant for putting their friends and political cronies before the people who pay their salaries, perks, and benefits, etc; etc; etc. When a nation is in crisis the leadership profile that Simon is comfortable with is not going to cut the mustard.
Simon must get back to doing what he does best; telling us like it is. I appreciate what he has to say, but like many others I will be clipping out that particular column and laminating it. A reminder that even someone we think has sense can go postal when you least expect.
October 9, 2014
