The following in my preliminary autopsy report on the May 07, 2012 general election – which resulted in the crushing defeat of the Free National Movement (FNM) party and its now deflated leader, Hubert Alexander Ingraham.
Firstly, it was a people’s victory – more than a Progressive Liberal Party’s. The last five years was financially exhaustive for many of us; and scores of Bahamians – including me, have expressed how it was the worst time economically that we have faced in our lifetime.
Home ownership was lost left, right and centre; unemployment increased dramatically, and we the people became naturally apprehensive about our and our children’s future while we watched a very grand road improvement and infrastructure project gobbled-up hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowed funds.
Then, there were fellow FNM supporters who had abandoned ship in mass numbers during the last term of the Free National Movement government. It was indeed a creepy experience to be witness to card carrying FNMs from the inception of the party move on to other political organizations.
The FNM defeat was in the making the day after their 2007 general election victory. Most FNM MPs had abandoned their constituents from 2007 to 2012; and when they did confront the voters to vote for them this time, they discovered that they were out of favor with the people. Mr. Brensil Rolle, Tommy Turnquest, Carl Bethel, and a lot others now understand that the Bahamian electorate would not tolerate rotten representation.
Through it all, how was it that the FNM incumbent candidate for Killarney, was able to hold on to his seat in believable fashion, despite the massive Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) wave? The answer to this holds the keys to the future successes of the Free National Movement (FNM) Party – in my humble opinion.
By: Dennis Dames
