“IT’S THAT SEASON”: Humes awaiting FNM ratification process to “run its course”

“IT’S THAT SEASON”: Humes awaiting FNM ratification process to “run its course”
Independence Committee Chairman, Mark Humes. (FILE PHOTO)

Five incumbents, excluding PM, awaiting renomination

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Fort Charlotte MP Mark Humes, who is among the last of the Free National Movement (FNM) incumbents yet to receive a renomination, said he will let the process “run its full course”.

“The party has a process and I don’t preempt the party’s process and make comments about a process that has not run its full course,” Humes told Eyewitness News, when contacted for comment.

Forwarded messages have made the rounds on social media asserting Humes will not be given another nod for Fort Charlotte on the FNM’s ticket.

Asked whether he has confidence in a renomination, Humes said: “The only thing you can have confidence in is life and death, and God. That’s the only thing you can have confidence in.”

He said: “One step at a time. You kind of let the party do what it has to do and then, let’s see what happens after that.”

There has been much speculation surrounding the renomination of several FNM incumbents, particularly around former Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands, who resigned from Cabinet last year.

But Sands was renominated last week, along with eight other incumbents over the past month.

Humes said: “At the end of the day, we just have to wait until the party makes an announcement… I don’t want to preempt anything that the party is doing right now.”

He continued: “It’s that season and it’s the season that we are in right now, and you know, I think we’re well aware of how politics works and people are going to put things out there, sometimes just to get responses in the public.

“And that’s why they’re always anonymous; nobody puts their name or faces to it because it’s the game of politics.

“I think sometimes we let these voice notes and different things just have us crazy, all over the place.”

Humes added: “Sometimes they may be true because we understand how the mischief — either internally or externally — some of these organizations try to create, but at the end of the day, for me, I would prefer not to preempt anything and not to give any kind of statement on anything until something is official.”

The FNM has ratified 30 candidates for the next general election.

These include 21 incumbents, six political newcomers and three senators.

Incumbents Desmond Bannister, the deputy prime minister and Carmichael MP; Shonel Ferguson, the Fox Hill MP; Frederick McAlpine, the Pineridge MP; Hank Johnson, the Central and South Eleuthera MP; and Lanisha Rolle, the Seabreeze MP and former minister of youth, sports and culture, have yet to be ratified.

Additionally, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, the MP for Killarney, has yet to be officially ratified, though this is a formality for the leader of the FNM party.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.