Chairman of the Free National Movement Carl Bethel announced on Wednesday that he will run for deputy leader of the party when it meets in convention in November.
“For a long time I have been striving to see how best I could serve the country and the party,” he told The Bahama Journal.
“After a lot of consideration and discussions it really came to me that the best position that I could be in to better serve the people, the country and the party is to run for the deputy leadership.”
As it stands now, Mr. Bethel will be running against attorney Sidney Collie, the present deputy leader.
Montagu Member of Parliament Brent Symonette recently indicated that he is also considering seeking the position of deputy leader.
In a statement to the press, Mr. Bethel said, “The office of deputy leader is important in the running of the party, but is also an important consideration in the shaping of the next Government of The Bahamas.
“I intend to offer for election to the office of deputy leader of the FNM in the spirit of enthusiasm, mutual respect and cooperation, necessary to support [the] leader of the party and to work more closely with the rank and file supporters of the FNM.”
His announcement followed months of speculation that he may seek the leadership post along with Senator Tommy Turnquest, the present leader, and Dion Foulkes, Mr. Bethel’s brother-in-law who announced his plan earlier in the year.
Asked why he decided not to run for leader, Mr. Bethel said, “We have a contest now for leadership and only one person could win. If you look at Tommy Turnquest, Dion Foulkes and myself, we really have been the second generation of leadership in the FNM after the founding fathers.
“If all of us were to mix it up the danger would be that we who really comprise the second wave of the FNM would be eliminating one another fighting over one position. That couldn’t be in the interest of party unity [and] the ongoing development of the Free National Movement.”
Mr. Bethel declined to say whether he would be supporting Mr. Turnquest or Mr. Foulkes for leader.
“What is more important than which of those two I would support is the fact that after the convention whoever is the leader of the Free National Movement must deserve and must receive the full and unequivocal support of every single member of our party,” he said.
“We have to go forward from this convention as a unified force, committed to the single task of preparing the party to be, once again, the best government that the Bahamian people have ever had.”
In his press statement, he said the task of defeating the “directionless” PLP in the next general elections is an awesome challenge which requires sacrifice, dedication and hard work “all of which I am prepared to offer to the party.”
Mr. Bethel told The Journal the most difficult challenge the FNM will have to overcome leading up to the elections is the issue of party unity.
“That is why I stress the overriding need for a unified position from the party behind whoever the leader is,” he said. “FNM’s can be the worst enemies of FNM’s, but I think the experience of 2001-2002 says that much more eloquently than I ever could.”
Mr. Collie, meanwhile, said Mr. Bethel informed him of his decision before making his public announcement on Wednesday.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
