PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr Hubert Minnis only welcomed Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells and Ft Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins into his party to stave off a possible internal coup.

He spoke to reporters about both men joining the FNM a day after they announced the move in the House of Assembly.

He also questioned how Dr Minnis would deal with Mr Wells as a part of the FNM, considering that the FNM leader still had an active question before the House of Assembly regarding the controversial letter of intent (LOI) signing.

“Even though it may not be the best decision for the FNM, he wanted to make a decision to protect his office and his position as leader of the opposition by adding two members who will vote for him against Loretta Butler or any movement by Loretta Butler,” Mr Christie told reporters.

“So that’s an FNM, leader of the opposition decision, to protect himself and I didn’t want to say it there in Parliament at the time because I wanted to speak to the constitutionality behind it.”

Mrs Butler-Turner, the Long Island MP, lost her bid to unseat Dr Minnis at the party’s convention last year. However, a group of FNM MPs are said to still be dissatisfied with Dr Minnis’ performance and were reportedly plotting to oust him.

Mr Christie added that jumping ship is not new in Bahamian politics.

“There are others who tried the same thing and what happens is a party pays particular attention to them and we know that it is a mistake. You can’t one day say you are philosophically against the FNM – and the leader of the opposition has a question before Parliament now looking into the LOI. I don’t know how he is going to deal with that.”

In July 2014, Mr Wells – at the time parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works – signed an unauthorised Letter of Intent (LOI) for a $650 million waste-to-energy facility at the New Providence landfill.

Dr Minnis repeatedly called for Mr Well’s resignation over the move.

The crux of the controversy was that with senior government officials denying that they gave Mr Wells, a junior, instructions to sign the LOI, Mr Wells breached Westminster protocols by signing the document.

Mr Wells was fired as parliamentary secretary by Prime Minister Perry Christie in October 2014 after months of controversy.

Dr Rollins quit the PLP in June after months of lambasting the government and Mr Christie. He was an independent MP until joining the FNM on Wednesday. However, while he was a member of the PLP, he frequently clashed with members of the FNM.

Yesterday, Mr Christie said both men would see how the Bahamian people feel about their actions when votes are cast in the next election.