By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells said yesterday he believes radio talk show host Lincoln Bain is “bad news” for the Free National Movement following this latest round of open contention toward FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis.

Mr Wells, who has publicly supported Dr Minnis, insisted that the party did the right thing by refusing Mr Bain the nomination for the Pinewood constituency.

Mr Bain, after he did not get the nomination, was among those who protested against Dr Minnis and community activist Reuben Rahming when the latter was officially ratified on Tuesday night at the FNM’s candidates launch as the standard bearer for the constituency.

Members of the party’s Pinewood Constituency Association protested as Mr Rahming addressed the crowd holding placards dismissing him as their candidate. The signs also defamed Dr Minnis.

Meanwhile, a representative from the association told The Tribune yesterday that officials are refusing to work with Mr Rahming.

“I think the party did the right thing,” Mr Wells said when he was contacted and asked whether Mr Bain was a good option for the FNM.

“From what I read in the press I believe he is bad news for the party and he should go peacefully. If he don’t they should put the hammer on him. They did the vetting and they found things out that can’t bode well for his representation.”

Mr Wells said he thinks Dr Minnis has handled the internal party issue well.

This is the second controversial incident involving Mr Bain that has gone public.

Earlier this year he admitted to secretly recording former Senator Lanisha Rolle during a meeting to protect himself from “sabotage”. In the recording Mrs Rolle spoke negatively about key FNM members and revealed to Mr Bain that he would not get the nomination for Pinewood. She ultimately resigned from the Senate amid pressure from colleagues that she should step down.

On Wednesday, FNM Chairman Sidney Collie admitted that while Mr Bain did have the full support of the constituency association, the party could not offer him the nomination because he simply did not pass the vetting process.

Members of the association claimed that Dr Minnis repeatedly gave assurances that Mr Bain would receive the nod to represent the constituency.

Mr Collie has said this couldn’t be further from the truth and that they were all made aware that Mr Bain would not be selected.

“Lincoln Bain applied for the nomination for Pinewood and he went through a process like all the other applicants,” Mr Collie said during an interview with The Tribune on Wednesday. “It was a very thorough vetting process, which included a face-to-face interview with the search committee and followed by an investigation. Lincoln did not pass the test.

“And notwithstanding all of what Pinewood is saying, the Search Committee and the Candidates Committee and the Executive Committee did their due diligence and determined after giving Lincoln all the benefit of the doubt that they could not nominate him. It’s as simple as that.”

Mr Bain has maintained that there was no explanation for the obvious snub. He said there were repeated assurances from Dr Minnis and there was “shock” when things did not go as promised.

However, he suggested that the incident involving Mrs Rolle might have had something to do with the party moving in a different direction.

Responding to the controversy, Mr Rahming on Tuesday night told this newspaper that he was not worried about the pushback because it is expected in a democratic process.

When asked whether he had met with the Pinewood Constituency Association before his ratification, Mr Rahming did not directly answer the question, but said: “We did what we needed to do and the party is satisfied. The association is a part of the party.”

Pressed further on whether he needed the help of the association to run a successful campaign, he said: “Elections are about ‘yes’ or ‘no’ it is not about someone voting for someone. It is called majority win.”