By Blox Content Management
Copyright thenassauguardian
After four years in opposition, the Free National Movement (FNM) is unfortunately limping toward the next general election hoping the Bahamian people grow weary enough of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) to hand them the reins of government by default.
We say it is unfortunate not because we prefer one party over the other, but because the FNM has frittered away the opportunity to give the people an obvious choice to replace a Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) that has delivered mostly more of the same.
The FNM’s present strategy looks more like inertia, and it has left the opposition without the vision or cohesion required to convince the electorate that it is ready to lead.
Take its recently announced crime plan.
It made no waves and went nowhere because it offered nothing substantially different than what is being done now.
It outlined problems we have talked about for years and successive administrations have sought to address.
It is a sad place for a party that once proudly bore the mantle of reform and renewal.
The FNM under Michael Pintard seems content to recycle bland talking points, issue sporadic press releases, and occasionally stage awkward video clips.
It is a sign of the party’s failure to rebuild itself in the wake of Dr. Hubert Minnis’ disastrous tenure.
Pintard was unable to pivot around Minnis’ machinations and still doesn’t appear firmly in control of the party after soundly beating the former leader at convention.
Now Minnis is set to cause even more problems for the party after he was rejected for the nomination for a seat he has won four consecutive times.
FNM constituency associations have openly revolted against some of the party’s choices, and it is an open secret that the leadership of the FNM is not singing from the same hymn sheet.
Even senior voices within the party, like Dame Janet Bostwick, have publicly observed the lack of unity, a perception the FNM’s own chairman, Dr. Duane Sands, has been forced to concede.
Pintard should have attempted to secure the heart of the party in the way Hubert Ingraham once did.
Ingraham, even in the face of opposition from senior members within their own ranks, rallied the base with clarity of purpose and force.
He inspired confidence.
Pintard has not and has left the party vulnerable to spoilers by the Coalition of Independents (COI), which has already snatched Central Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis from the clutches of the FNM.
The COI is a loud, chaotic amalgamation of disaffected Bahamians, conspiracy peddlers, and those selling xenophobia and unachievable promises, which no serious observer expects to win a single seat.
But the COI’s following feels louder and more energized than the FNM’s; this does not auger well for the opposition.
Meantime, the Davis administration, for all its flaws, has managed to maintain remarkable organizational discipline.
There have been many missteps that will likely cost them, but the PLP remains a formidable electoral machine. Its cohesion and messaging far outstrip the disorganized grumblings of the FNM.
The PLP is hardly unbeatable. Dissatisfaction exists, and it is real. Crime remains a persistent scourge. Inflation and high living costs have strained families. The promises of rapid, transformative change have been unevenly fulfilled. And yet, none of these realities will translate into an FNM victory unless the opposition can present itself as a viable, ready alternative. Right now, it cannot.
Its candidates appear uninspired. Its public messaging lacks cohesion. Its engagement with voters is shallow. And its internal divisions continue to hobble their ability to present a united front.
The math is obvious – to win, the FNM must not only hold on to its six remaining seats but also capture at least 14 more.
Difficult, but not impossible. However, to attempt it without fresh ideas and without strong candidates leave the odds stacked against the FNM.
It is a tragedy for Bahamian democracy that the country faces a choice mainly between a PLP that governs unevenly yet holds together, and an FNM that does not seem ready to govern at all.
Time is short, but the FNM can still rise to the occasion.
However, that will require Pintard and the party to dig deeper than they currently are.
If the FNM fails to rise, the electorate may very well return the PLP to power, not out of love but out of resignation.
The FNM must decide quickly whether it wishes to be a party prepared to govern or a relic of history.
