NASSAU, BAHAMAS –The political era of the Rt. Hon. Doctor Hubert Alexander Minnis is rapidly coming to an ignoble close. This is a pity of national proportions in that Minnis, God bless his soul, is the first former Prime Minister of The Bahamas and an elected MP, until the dissolution of Parliament, to be denied a re-nomination. For whatever reasons, there seem to be a palatable ‘hatred’ towards Minnis by Messrs. Pintard & Sands.
Dr. Minnis , while Prime Minister, tried to do the best with the political hand he was dealt. It was not a pretty sight. It was patently obvious that he was in over his head and was a totally ‘unprepared’ and unlikely Prime Minister. In fact, Minnis ONLY became PM by default after the then Ingraham led FNM was wiped out in 2012 by and equally unprepared and unlikely the Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie, may God continue to bless him also.
There is a Spiritual Law, which is unchangeable, called Karma or what goes around comes around. So it was when Ingraham, openly, hurled several politicxal and maybe even personal insults towards the late great and deeply lamented Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling. But then, again , it must be remembered that Sir Lynden, despite being ‘a gentleman’ made a reference to the late Sir Carlton E. Francis about ‘coat suit’!! Well, Sir Lynden lived long enough to also become ‘a coat suit man’!!
Minnis declared, with almost no visible emotion, close to a decade ago that ‘The Ingraham Era is over!’ Minnis was then picked up and dusted off by the rump FNM, by default, in my opinion, and elevated to the post of Leader. In his first and only cabinet, Minnis made the politically flawed decision to include Messrs. Pintard & Sands ……..two political snakes in the grass, in my view.
Dr. Minnis had caused Pintard to step down as National Chairman. Minnis also fired Sands, who read about it in the media, with stealth protocol. What did Minnis expect when those two personalities gained the upper hand in the leadership debacle of the FNM? They crowed in unison that ; ‘The Minnis era is over’ !! He has now morphed into the fabled Don Quixote of La Mancha!!
Now, as an ‘abandoned’ former Prime Minister; Leader of the then governing party and an extremely wealthy individual, Minnis finds himself, standing alone in the political jungle. He’s nominated for Killarney. Not one single Minnis adherent ; such as Messrs. Renward Wells; Desmond Bannister; Dinisio D’Aguillar; Carl Bethell et al, nominated with him. Any sensible person could tell Minnis, even at this late stage, that ‘The Minnis era is over’!! This is so sad for a man who, despite the odds, had clawed his way to the top of the political Totem pole. Now, Don Quixote is tilting a wind mills while seeing, in his mind, giants?
In Japanese culture, when there was a defeat in battle or even political betrayal, participants would often fall on their swords, so to speak. Of course, I do not for a second recommend or suggest that political defeat or casting aside warrants suicide. Dr. Minnis, alas, will go down in flames in the Killarney contest. He will receive few FNM votes, if any. The COI candidate will ‘take’ votes away from Minnis. The independent candidate will also hamper Minnis.
The PLP is a cohesive party and only a handful of their voters may not vote or simply spoil their ballots (which is not the way to go). Senator Lynes will emerge victorious as i suspect that the PLP will do across the nation. Yes, there will be at least Seven casualties but with 28-30 seats the PLP would have a two thirds majority to promulgate constitutional changes and reforms. To God then, in all things, be the glory.
