Leadership is a funny thing! Often times its not the position that makes the man, the man makes the position. Let me start of by saying I have the utmost respect for Dr Hubert Minnis. I think he is a nice man with good intentions, but in all honesty, I don’t think he has the political savvy, charisma or the ability to lay down the political hammer in him.
Dr Minnis is a nice guy, but nice guys don’t win elections. To be a leader, on must be secured in his himself and his position. Any signs of incompetency, weakness or inability to deal with threats only serves to feed those who aspire for his throne.
On May 27th, after Dr Minnis was elected as party leader, he said he and his team will look to “renew the party, revitalize plans, rebuild confidence…” These are things one would expect the new leader to say after such a loss, but little did he know that he has to keep the PLP close and his FNM friends closer.
Mr Minnis wasn’t even the elected leader for two weeks when dribble mouth Charles Maynard went on TV on June 6th and dribbled the FNM’s dirty laundry regarding their new leader. According to The Dribbler, forces have already aligned in the FNM and have agreed on giving Dr Minnis 12 to 18 months to impress. Well blow me down!
Firstly, The Dribbler embarrassed Dr Minnis and his party when he made that revelation. There are certain things you keep in house. That bit of information, was one of those things. But I could understand if this sentiment was expressed privately a few months after Dr Minnis was in office and people had a chance to see how he operates and how he carries himself, but for The Dribbler to pull the curtain back and allow the entire country to see what the power brokers of the FNM are already thinking about Dr Minnis tells me that they view Dr Minnis as a company man who will do whatever is asked of him and wont put up a fuss.
In essence Dr Minnis, in the capacity as leader, is no more than a place holder, a seat warmer, someone whose job it is to keep the party together until the chosen one is ready to step forward! Dr Minnis statements about renewing, revitalizing and rebuilding the party is just talk. His own Chairman has already set the clock.
If I was the new leader of the FNM, I think the prudent thing to do is to wait a few months before criticizing the new government and spend the early months in the bowels of the party establishing contacts, putting my people in place, weeding out bad apples, and begin making plans to move forward. But apparently, that is not Dr Minnis style. In the ensuing weeks to follow, Dr Minnis has criticized the PLP’s budget, accused the PLP of victimization and their inability to control crime all the while ignoring his flank, his FNM flank.
Did someone not tell Dr Minnis that the very things he is criticizing the PLP about, 8 weeks after an election, are issues that have carried over from his administrations prior 5 years in office? Somebody should have told Dr Minnis that if he is to criticize the new government this close after an election, he is indirectly criticizing his own administrations handling of those issues. I guess Dr Minnis expected things to change in a matter of weeks, but I digress!
But the jokiest attack came on July 2nd when the FNM released a statement criticizing Mr Christie for taking a long time make his board appointments. If you claim Mr Christie is taking to long, then which prior administration’s time frame of board appointments are you comparing Christie’s too?
Mr Ingraham named his board appointments by July 8th 2007. If your using that as the comparative time line, then why attack Mr Christie about his delay in appointing his boards when he had another week to go?
If the FNM saw this date was drawing near, why not wait until the after the 8th to make that attack? LOL! In their eagerness to paint Mr Christie as slow and indecisive, they ejaculated prematurely and in the process made themselves look foolish. And the thing is they probably would have scored a cheap political point had they just waited.
Dr Minnis better tighten up his ship because these kinds of sophomoric mistakes that he, his party and his chairman are making will only cause the establishment in the party to shorten that 12-18 month period!
But the granddaddy of them all came on Thursday July 19th when former PM Ingraham gave a press conference after he tendered his resignation from Parliament! Mr Ingraham did something that totally cut off Mr Minns at the knees. I honestly felt badly for Mr Minnis as the former PM had just made statements that totally undermined Mr Minnis and his credibility as leader of the FNM.
Mr Ingraham said that the date of his resignation taking affect his been altered for the express reason so “HIS CANDIDATE” in the upcoming bye-election would have enough time to meet the residency requirements for him to be eligible to be on the ballot.
Wait a dam minute! Who is the leader of the FNM? Is it not Dr Minnis? 24 hrs prior, Dr Minnis was quoted in the Tribune as saying a final decision on a candidate is not expected “for a while.” On July 13th, The Nassau Guardian reported that Mr Minnis said the process for selecting a candidate would be a “…democratic process.”
Dr Minnis, you are the leader of the party and for all intents and purposes, Mr Ingraham just undermined your dumb ass. The entire bye election has Mr Ingraham’s finger prints all over it and not yours and to make it worse, Mr Ingrham has now said so publicly!
Even if Dr Minnis was on board with Mr Gomez selection, the fact that Papa said what he said publicly, makes him look like he is not the one in charge and whatever he does is subject to Mr Ingraham’s approval!
Papa made it clear for all during the Thursday’s press conference that HE wants and will get Greg Gomez to represent the FNM on the ticket. It also means that the other 3 candidates, Cay Mills, Jackson Mckintosh and Perry Thomas are essentially wasting their time as Mr Ingraham has already decided who he wants. So, so much for that democratic process thingy Mr Minnis was talking about.
Why is Dr Minnis making himself look less than a leader speaks volumes about him! Mr Ingrham, though a former PM, is also the FORMER leader of the party. He should not have said what he said and Mr Minnis should have said something right there and then to, at the very least, soften what Mr Ingrham said. Wow!
The more I see of Mr Minnis, the more the saying, “You don’t know me until you have lived with me” rings true. The establishment FNM’s knows Dr Minnis. He is a good man and his heart is in the right place, but they seem to know that he doesn’t have “It,” thus they have given him 12-18 months to prove them wrong.
At this point it seems clear to me that Mr Minnis is at best the 3rd fiddle in his own party. Mr Ingraham has hand picked his candidate and Charles “The Dribbler” Maynard publicly gave him an expiration date. Dr Minnis don’t look like no leader to me nor can he say his position is secure.
Dr Minnis, you need to man up. You have shown you don’t want to rock the boat! Well bro, you better start rocking that boat from side to side. Don’t be another Tommy Turnqest, be your own man. If you want respect, than start acting like you ARE the leader.
Your the captain now, or at least for another 12-18 months, so what the heck, leave your imprint on the the party, implement your own vision, make your own path and who doesn’t buy into it, tell them to cut bait or get out of the boat!
Loretta wants your job and she knows Papa is propping you up. She also knows Papa’s grip and influence in the party will naturally weaken as time goes on. This is all the more reason you need to be your own man and do what is in your and the party’s best interest.
If Loretta is making waves internally and she doesn’t have Papa’s backing, that should be enough to tell you that Mr Ingraham is already weak internally and in another 12-18 months, he will be even weaker! Don’t be a fool, man up and if you go down, go down doing it your way. Your legacy as FNM leader is at stake too!
