Three days after the Free National Movement (FNM) 2016 Convention, party member Dr. Andre Rollins claimed his name was unknowingly placed as one of the six MPs who drafted a letter to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling seeking Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis’ removal.
This comes more than a month after a letter was drafted by six Free National Movement (FNM) MPs, and submitted to the party’s council to push for “a no confidence vote” in Dr. Minnis.
“The facts are that I was never once consulted about the letter and did not know about its existence until hearing about it on Carlton Smith’s “Let’s Talk Live” talk show on Guardian Radio after it had already been leaked to the press,” Dr. Rollins said.
Dr. Rollins said he will not take responsibility for the decision by some FNM MPs to undermine Dr. Minnis’ leadership and by extension, the party.
Furthermore, Dr. Rollins said that the individuals responsible for that letter should have been cognizant that the contents of the document would have adverse effects on the party, threatening its chance of victory in the 2017 general election.
Subsequent to inquiring as to who included his name in the “damning” letter, Dr. Rollins claimed he received a written and verbal apology from Long Island MP Loretta Butler- Turner, whom he said he suspected would be vying once again for the party’s leadership.
“However, still privately upset by the lack of respect shown to me, I decided that the best way to respond to her unethical act was to allow her to suffer her own political demise: If she wanted to make her bed hard, then I would get out of her way so that she could lie down in it,” said Dr. Rollins.
“Those who assisted Mrs. Butler-Turner in drafting the letter were clearly executing a scorched earth strategy intended to benefit her ensuing campaign, by wreaking so much havoc that it would be highly unlikely the delegates of the convention would re-elect Dr. Minnis as the party’s leader,” he continued.
The Fort Charlotte MP charged that Mrs. Butler –Turner’s plan backfired on her; and instead of destroying Dr. Minnis’ campaign, it gave the Progressive Liberal Party a boost.
Dr. Rollins also criticized Mrs. Butler Turner’s last minute decision to quit the party’s leadership race early on Friday morning.
“Having witnessed the aftermath of her devious plot, I am left to publicly question why Mrs. Butler-Turner would employ such a destructive strategy, which would severely handicap a Minnis-led FNM, if she was only going to cower in the face of the backlash and quit the race anyway,” he said.
The Fort Charlotte MP also said that he it is baffling to him considering that Mrs. Butler –Turner has accepted a nomination under a Dr. Minnis led FNM, after displaying such “egregious” behavior.
He asserted that Mrs. Butler-Turner’s presence would only serve as a distraction, hindering the party’s progress.
“It will serve as a constant reminder of the damning contents of the scathing letter that they authored,” he said.
“This recklessness was compounded on Friday past when Mrs. Butler-Turner boldly accused Dr. Minnis – a man who has made stamping out corruption a focal point of his general election campaign – of spearheading a convention filled with corruption and criminality. To my mind, her pursuit of a nomination under Dr. Minnis, following such egregious actions, is both illogical and unacceptable. Endorsing them would amount to political malpractice of the worst kind,” he said.
The Bahama Journal attempted to receive a response from the Long Island MP regarding Dr. Rollins’ assertions, and while disbelief was evident in her tone, she refused to comment.
