By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunedmedia.net

MAURICE Moore, regarded as one of the Free National Movement’s founding fathers, has strongly rebuked the six opposition members of Parliament who threatened to have FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis constitutionally removed, insisting that their actions “are not becoming” of people who want to be leaders.

Mr Moore told The Tribune yesterday that he was “disappointed” by the MPs’ attempts to oust Dr Minnis from the top FNM post.

He said this was counter-productive and proof that each of the MPs only “wanted their own way” and were solely concerned with further dividing the organisation.

Despite the infighting, Mr Moore maintained that the public is supporting Dr Minnis as the opposition leader and believes he can lead the Bahamas.

The FNM, Mr Moore said, has spent too much time focusing on internal matters when it should be focused on winning the next general election.

Mr Moore said: “The way I see it is we have one leader and twice during a democratic process he was voted in as the FNM’s leader.

“What those six members have done publicly is counter productive to the Free National Movement and is only something that will divide the party despite what Loretta Butler-Turner says.”

He was referring to the Long Island MP’s comments that a petition to the governor general to have Dr Minnis removed as leader of the Official Opposition would be a last resort as it was hoped that an “amicable” resolution on an early convention date could be reached.

He continued: “It is a democratic process for everyone in the party no matter who you are. So to challenge Dr Minnis our leader, the way he is being challenged out in the open now, is unbecoming of people who say they want to lead this country.

“They have to remember that they were elected under the auspices of the FNM not by themselves. In a Westminster system you should deal with it at the national council or the executive level. You should exhaust every possible avenue internally. When that is done and you don’t make headway then you can go public and go tell the governor general whatever it is you want to tell them.

“But it just shows us that they just want to have their own way and that they want to divide our party. I am disappointed in what they are doing. They are not following the democratic process and its wrong when you have that kind of behaviour from people who want to be leaders.”

The discord within the FNM reached a new level on Monday as Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins lambasted supporters of Dr Minnis, accusing them of “espousing the tactics of a demagogue interested in dumbing down the debate because the leader has no substance or vision for this country.”

He insisted that those FNM members characterising recent actions by him and several other FNM MPs as a move by “elitists promoting a UBP agenda” were only underscoring the “weakness of the current leadership.”

In a statement posted to his Facebook page on Monday, Dr Rollins said this line of attack was only strengthening the position of the government.

Last week, The Tribune reported that the majority of the FNM’s parliamentary team had threatened to petition Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling to remove Dr Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition unless an earlier convention date was set.

This newspaper has since been informed by a high-level party insider that discussions are now underway over hosting the convention in early July.

The effort from the parliamentary team has the support of six of the opposition’s 10 MPs, The Tribune understands.

This includes St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Rollins.