By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Free National Movement appointed a three-person tribunal last night to decide the fate of the “rebel seven” members of Parliament who ousted FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly.

Dr Minnis made the announcement last night at FNM headquarters on Mackey Street.

While the MPs have yet to submit letters of response to the charges against them, party Chairman Sidney Collie told this newspaper earlier on Wednesday that the FNM would still proceed with the disciplinary process. The tribunal is expected to mimic that of a court proceeding and Dr Minnis has said he will ensure it is expedited.

The party accused the group of MPs two weeks ago of bringing the party into “disrepute, division, rancour and dishonour.” They had seven days to write the Executive Committee of the FNM to attempt to exculpate themselves.

“I have not received anything,” Mr Collie said when he was contacted yesterday by The Tribune. “The next step in the process is for the leader to appoint a tribunal. These three persons will come from the Central Council.”

Asked what would be the party’s alternative course of action should the MPs never respond, Mr Collie said there really was none.

“The process proceeds in their absence. The procedure under the constitution is the tribunal meets and a case is presented to the tribunal against the seven whether they are present or not.

“Once they have been given an opportunity to be present then it’s just like a court. If you are charged or someone files a lawsuit against you and serves you with it and gives you a date to show up and you don’t show up, the court would proceed in your absence and come to a conclusion. That’s exactly what happens with the tribunal.”

The FNM has never expelled a member before, but this is one possibility that hangs over the seven MPs. If not exculpated, they could also be fined not more than $100 or be suspended for no longer than a year, according to the FNM’s constitution.

According to a well-placed source in the party, it is not expected that the MPs will be expelled. That source told The Tribune that the “rebel” MPs will likely be suspended, adding that party officials expect the seven to then quit the party of their own volition.

“In the event that you fail to reply or the Executive Committee is of opinion that such reply as you have furnished does not exculpate you, the Executive Committee may, under the provisions of Article 54 of the Constitution of the FNM, appoint a Tribunal, as therein specified,” the letter delivered to each of the MP noted.

The Executive Committee said the parliamentarians brought the party into disrepute through the events of December 7 when they sent a letter to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling that was read in the House of Assembly by House Speaker Dr Kendal Major.

That letter expressed no confidence in Dr Minnis and asked that he be replaced as Official Opposition leader by Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner.

Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins, one of the seven MPs, has said their actions were aimed at causing Dr Minnis to step down from the party’s leadership.

Mr Collie has maintained that there is “no chance in hell” that the FNM leader will be removed from his post before the next election.

Mr Collie has also said the Fort Charlotte MP is a “loud mouth, political juvenile” that is “just talking to hear himself.”

Last night, the FNM ratified two new candidates, Tribune columnist and attorney Adrian Gibson, 32, for Long Island and Abaco native James Albury, 23, who works with the Abaconian newspaper, for Central and South Abaco.

Last week Dr Minnis revealed that the FNM’s council had revoked Mrs Butler-Turner’s nomination for her constituency based on her being a part of the effort to oust him.

The disciplinary tribunal is expected to meet next week.