By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

WHILE many Free National Movement supporters hope this week’s convention will unite a severely fractured organisation, concerns have surfaced that the party will remain disjointed regardless of who is elected to lead the FNM following the highly anticipated event.

This “troubling prospect”, one FNM insider told The Tribune yesterday, has fuelled a faction in the party to move forward with plans to enter the name of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham into the leadership race during nominations this week.

However, it appears that their efforts have been thwarted after Mr Ingraham delivered a blow to speculation that he was preparing to contest the leadership of the party.

In a letter delivered to FNM Chairman Sidney Collie yesterday, Mr Ingraham said should his name be proposed as a nominee, he would not accept a nomination for the leadership race or any other position. Mr Ingraham stressed that he was in retirement and would support whoever emerged as FNM leader.

Nonetheless, another insider said this faction fears that neither FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, if he is re-elected, or challenger Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, should she emerge as the party’s new leader, have what it takes to unify the party.

“This faction wants to see stability in the party and they don’t think either candidate can do that,” one FNM who did not want to be named said.

“But if Mr Ingraham is not one of the candidates, these same people have more confidence in Loretta doing it than they have in Dr Minnis.

“For this group it is nothing personal, but rather all about what is best for the party and the country.

“However, there is this real fear that the party will remain divided. I was present when Dr Minnis said he will deal with the MPs who wanted to go to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling to have him removed. Those are not the words of someone who wants to unite the party. One of the fundamentals is you go into convention to resolve the issues. And following the event you address those concerns with factions so that you can have unification.”

Another source said: “It is highly unlikely that the party will unify after convention if Dr Minnis wins. He has been the most divisive instrument in the party since taking lead of it.”

On Sunday, Mr Ingraham made a strong plea for unity regardless of who clinches the top post of the party.

The former FNM leader, who has shied away from speaking publicly about the party’s ongoing internal challenges, said it is essential that the leader and the party quickly move toward complete oneness after the event, especially as it faces an impending general election. If this cannot be achieved, Mr Ingraham said, the party will fracture and go into a general election unstable and disunited.

Electorates, Mr Ingraham added, reward party unity and stability and punish the lack of it in a political organisation. He went on to insist that whoever emerges as FNM leader must demonstrate the maturity and the wisdom to engage in open dialogue with all sections of the party.

He added that unity will not be fostered and the FNM will remain divided if there is a closed mindset or if there is a programme of retaliation against opponents.

The FNM convention will be held from Wednesday to Friday.