NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Party executives made a unanimous decision to bar Free National Movement Vice Chairman Richard Johnson from attending council meetings following a special meeting at the FNM headquarters on Mackey Street last night.
Over the weekend a voice note believed to be from Johnson was circulated calling for the resignation of party Chairman Dr. Duane Sands, who seemed to have been supported by the overwhelming majority.
Johnson says that he’s going to take the matter to court because he believes the decision was unconstitutional.
“Well at this time the Free National Movement in my view, the Chairman, in my view, is acting contrary to the constitution of the FNM and so they’re going to, its time to take this matter into bank lane,” Johnson said.
“I will not be very explicit because council is governed by secrecy however this has been in the public domain so what I will say is in the party we have seen that other people could get away with certain things and other people are chastised for certain things.
“Our party was built on dissenting views. We’ve always been built on that so because people disagree with a decision or a policy, people don’t take it kindly.”
Johnson added that he is in support of former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis because he believes he deserves another chance.
He denied accusations that he was being paid for his loyalty to the Killarney MP.
“I hear that all the time, I don’t indulge in that conversation. See people don’t understand. When Dr. Minnis ran as a leader in 2014 and 2016, I didn’t support him. I used to be a thorn in his side and so that is very much so a lie. He’s a good friend of mine and so I support him.
“[…] The former prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis has done wonders for this country. I believe he deserves a second chance to govern for The Bahamas.
“He has my unwavering support and I will work with him consistently to be the government of the Bahamas once again. I make no apologies for that.”
In response to Johnson’s threat to take the matter to court, Sands last night said “bring it on”.
Sands described the matter as a long-standing and vexing one, and a form of distraction.
“The matter was put to council which is the second highest body in the party, second only to convention and a determination was made for a disciplinary process to be followed in addition to the ordinary disciplinary process,” said Sands.
“[…] At the end of the day I think the people of this country are shocked at the level of violence, challenges in the economy, with the reckless use of public funds by this administration by the impending 160% increase on their electricity bill et cetera.
“These are the things that they are concerned about they are not interested or concerned about FNM affairs and any officer who decides to bring those issues to the public inappropriately, there obviously has to be some way to get focused once again,” Sands said.
The former health minister said he welcomes the challenge when asked about Johnson calling for him to step down from his post.
“The convention is in two years, if you want to campaign to unseat me then go right ahead,” Sands said.
The situation is a huge distraction according to Sands who says that although he agrees that it had to be brought to the surface, and resolved, they are more mindful of the more pressing issues that Bahamians are facing day to day.
Sands said: “We want the public to know that what is more important to Bahamians are the issues that Bahamians face every day. I’ve enumerated some of them, certainly not all of them but the honeymoon for this new day government is over and if we are going to be seen to be serious contenders for governance then we gotta get our own house in order and I believe we’ve done that.”
When asked about a possible division in the party, Sands said he thinks the party has moved past its convention and is working to restructure the organization “from the ground up”.
“We have acknowledged that we have a lot of work to do, we’ve acknowledged that we have stepped on some toes we have acknowledged that we’ve hurt some people and we are going to deal with many different issues so that people can look at us and determine whether or not they would prefer us as opposed to this very disappointing administration,” Sands added.
