As the FNM leadership race reaches the home stretch, Chairman Carl Bethel yesterday promised “a commitment to unity” at next week’s convention.
Chairman Bethel said the Opposition would use the four-day gathering in the ballroom of the Wyndham Nassau Resort not just to criticize the government’s shortcomings but also to present its own action plan. The convention begins on Tuesday.
“We are a mature party and we are at that timeﾖ[convention time]ﾖwhen a mature party considers its leadership question and options,” he told a press conference held at the party’s headquarters. “We can ride out any of these crises because at the end of the day every FNM member, from the leader straight through the party, has a commitment to the unity of the Free National Movement.”
Vowing to expose the Christie administration’s “entire scope of mismanagement” the chairman, who plans to challenge the party’s deputy leadership, said illegal immigration, crime and the handling of hurricane preparedness and relief would top the agenda.
Touting the list of speakers and talent to be showcased at the convention as some of the party’s most dynamic, the party chairman revealed that “prominent individuals” from major segments of the community would also address the event.
Asked if the party had taken into account the PLP’s decision to begin its convention the day after the FNM’s ended, Chairman Bethel said that the governing party appeared to be “stealthily trying to hold their convention right after ours.” He added, however, that the PLP, in holding its convention at this time, would have lots to answer.
Flanking Mr Bethel were party MPs and officers, and FNM leader Tommy Turnquest who said, “We will give them lots to talk about.”
By: Raymond Kongwa, The Nassau Guardian
