By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner suggested yesterday that the game plan of the “rebel seven” is still incomplete and will need further collaboration in order for their course of action moving forward to be further developed.

The newly appointed leader of the official Opposition in the House of Assembly told reporters yesterday that very little has been said of the group’s strategy as a safeguard against detractors who may attempt to sabotage the plans before they are off the ground.

She was asked by The Tribune to respond to critics who have repeatedly castigated the group for executing the revolt against Killarney MP Dr Hubert Minnis last week, removing him as leader of the Official Opposition. They argue that given the country’s political climate with a general election just months away, the MPs’ move was ill conceived.

Among the critics was former Free National Movement MP Pierre Dupuch who has said their actions guaranteed a win for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in the 2017 election. Former FNM Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells has also told The Tribune that Dr Minnis’ ouster will likely amount to nothing.

However, Mrs Butler-Turner said this was not the case and revealed her ideas for Senate appointments. It is her aim to have a reflection of various subsections of Bahamian society represented in the upper chamber, Mrs Butler-Turner explained.

So far she has announced Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader Branville McCartney as the first appointment.

Last week, Mrs Butler-Turner and six other MPs submitted a letter of no confidence in Dr Minnis to lead them in Parliament to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, asking her to invoke Article 82 of the Constitution. They further revealed that the group voted for the Long Island MP to lead them in Parliament.

“The game plan, while I must admit has a foundation, it still has to be filled out and that takes collaboration,” the MP said. “So why are you placing these huge demands on one person? You’ve got an ineffective government at the end of their term and they still haven’t demonstrated their game plan even though they have given you a plan from 2011.

“We at this late stage we haven’t come out with our game plan. What you see evolving here has taken a bit of time and we know that it’s going to take a little more time to complete that. But when we present it it’s going to be understandable. It’s going to be digestible. It’s going to make sense and hopefully it’s going to be something that the Bahamian people are proud to have.”

She also said: “I could have chosen from anyone among many people who would have been obvious choices, but what I am trying to do is to reflect in the Senate almost a microcosm of our society.

“That is why we are waiting for the final senator to come in and maybe there will be some shock, some awe, some surprises, but you will know that that will be a direct reflection of the people that make up this country and that is a process of inclusion.

“It’s going to be different. You are going to have reaction. You might even have rejection, but every Bahamian must know that at somewhere in governance whether in the House of Assembly or in the upper chamber of the Senate that they will be reflected in that make up. I think that is the most important thing. “The Bahamas is a melting pot of persons and we cannot be exclusionary to one demographic. So I think you should stand by and watch to see what we are going to present. It certainly is not going to be friends, family and lovers or nepotism, cronyism or anything. It’s going to be representational of the Bahamian people and that’s what we need.”

Mrs Butler-Turner, Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key and Ft Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins each signed a letter of no confidence last Wednesday in Dr Minnis as the leader of the Official Opposition.

Mr Dupuch on Tuesday raised questions of the end result of their revolt against Dr Minnis, saying now was not the time to cause a disruption within the party as an election approaches.

He further suggested that the MPs’ ousting of Dr Minnis could have been based on the vested interests of factions in the country who do not want to see the FNM ascend to office.

Pointing to Dr Minnis’ repeated pledge to do away with corruption, Mr Dupuch said this was reason enough for the FNM under the leadership of the Killarney MP to be less favourable in the eyes of some people.