By Gerrino J. Saunders
Bahama Journal News Editor

There will be no Free National Movement (FNM) victory in the 2026 general
elections if the party does not unify itself, according to former FNM leader and
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
During his tribute to the late John Henry Bostwick at the memorial held at the
FNM headquarters Mr. Ingraham encouraged members of the FNM to be truly
prepared for the upcoming election.
He said, “I want to use this occasion to say a few words to the FNMs. You know,
you can only win elections in The Bahamas if you are hungry for power. If the
governing party is hungrier to keep what they got than you are to get what they
have, they will win and you will lose.”
“Secondly,” he said, “you must always be prepared for an election. The first thing
to be prepared for election is to have electoral voters on a list. We’re going house
to house, all kinds of people, knocking over one another, but we are not registering
and voters, and asking them to vote for us.”
Ingraham explained that one of the mistakes made by the FNM in 1987 was that it
had lots of supporters but not that many who could vote.
“So I say to you today; do your homework. It ain’t ga drop in your lap,” he said to
FNMs in attendance.
Continuing he said “Don’t believe, as some of us believe that because over the last
20 years people change government every five years it will happen for you this
time; and don’t believe that because people are fed up with the PLP that they just
going to do it for you.”

“But you also have to accept that, listen, we got to be united. We got to be on one
accord and we got to have one purpose, to win and to govern on behalf of the
people of The Bahamas.”
“And so I ask you, FNMs, since you say that you are FNM, be FNM. You have
Tommy, you have Brent, you have Minnis, you have Hubert Ingraham, all of them
you have, to get advice from time to time; but we will stay out your way. I will not
be in your way, but I will be available to assist if I can,” said the former party
leader.
Last week in the House of Assembly former Prime Minister and party leader and
the current Member of Parliament for Kilarney Dr. Hubert Minnis made it clear
that when he speaks in Parliament he speaks as an FNM.
Dr. Minis also made it clear that despite not getting a nomination from the FNM to
run in Kilarney in 2026, he will contest the seat as an FNM.
He said, “I come to this place every meeting as a member of the Free National
Movement on behalf of the people of Killarney, who I have represented for
nearly two decades.
“They have shown me tremendous support all these years. I remain grateful for
this support. My job in this place is to give voice to them for better governance
for our nation as a whole. It is a pleasure to be their representative in this place,
and I look forward to continuing this representation,” said Dr. Minnis as
government members cheered him on.
In early April Pintard said he has asked Dr. Minnis to contribute to the party’s
future, not as a candidate, but as an elder statesman guiding strategy and offering
insight into government policy. He told media that Dr. Minnis did not give him
and answer but said he would consult with his family and consider it.
Mr. Ingraham is not the first senior FNM to call for unity in the party as Dame
Janet Bostwick, the first woman to serve as Acting Prime Minister and the first
female Attorney General and first female Member of Parliament in March this year
called for FNM unity, a call which party leader Michael Pintard said he
“welcomes.”

However Ingraham’s call for unity comes amid ongoing tensions in the party
between Dr. Minnis and Pintard.
During a convention last year, Dr. Minnis challenged Pintard for leader, but was
convincingly defeated.
Iram Lewis the sitting MP for Central Grand Bahama who challenged Pintad for
the leadership position following the FNM’s loss in 2021 resigned from the FNM
and became the first MP for the Coalition of Independents, reportedly after
learning that he too would not get a party nomination.
As for the reason behind not allowing Dr. Minnis a nomination Mr Pintard
explained that Dr Minnis had not participated in recent party meetings or strategy
sessions, and has often made contributions in the Parliament that did not align
with the party’s overall message.
At the time he said, “Those persons who are not minded or are unable to
consistently participate and make a contribution, or whose message, oftentimes
we are unaware of what the nature of it is, or it does not jive with what we are
attempting to do, they put us in a very, very difficult position.”
“When we call on every member of our team to have message discipline, when
we call on every member of our team to be integrated in the meetings that we
hold so that we can be on the same page as we present a vision for the future,
those are not unrealistic expectations.”
Last month Mr. Pintard said the party had nearly completed the vetting process
with more than 75 percent of applicants interviewed and that all candidate
announcements would begin sometime this month.
As it relates to Mr. Ingraham’s advice on unifying there were a lot of comments on
various social media sites including face book and some of those comments were
as follows:
Renee Moree – “The master. Listen up and heed his advice or be defeated.”
Maria Russell – “An experienced statesman. They all should take heed to Mr.
Ingraham’s advice. They get to comfortable, cocky and arrogant, losing focus of

important matters at hand. They should focus on solutions to the problems that is
plaguing this country rather than political rhetoric.”
Victoria Murray- “Mr. Michael Pintard, listen to Papa. I don’t see the FNM
winning this election if the party don’t be united as one.”
Dereck Mackey –“ No one cares to hear his opinion, Mr. Pintard should avoid him
at all costs even once elected.”