By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the Free National Movement has said it will re-nominate Loretta Butler-Turner as the party’s candidate for Long Island, attempts remain underway to have her replaced ahead of the 2017 general election, with former Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells confirming that he instructed a group of supporters to draft a petition for her removal.

According to Mr Wells, this group approached him for counsel during the most recent Long Island regatta where he advised them that the most effective way to get the party’s attention was to gather as many signatures as possible to prove that she is no longer supported.

The petition, obtained by The Tribune, lambasted Mrs Butler-Turner for “humiliating” FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis and warned that should the FNM dismiss the demands for a new candidate, its supporters were fully prepared to nominate and elect a “worthy” independent.

However, in an interview with The Tribune yesterday, FNM Chairman Sidney Collie not only sought to distance the party from the matter, but said it would not support the petition in any way. He said the party did not receive any petition regarding the Long Island candidacy to date.

“The petition going around Long Island is not by the FNM, it’s not instructed to be done by the FNM and does not have the support of the FNM,” Mr Collie said when he was contacted.

“The first time I heard about it was Monday morning (when) someone called me and told me Tennyson Wells or persons associated with him are circulating a petition. I haven’t seen it and that is the first time I am hearing of it.”

But Mr Wells insisted that there was an overwhelming number of people on the island who were not satisfied with the former FNM deputy leader’s representation and predicted that hundreds would support calls for her removal.

Asked if the petition originated with him Mr Wells said: “I don’t have any vote down there. I shouldn’t say I didn’t start it (but) they called me and asked me when I was down at the regatta how they should go about getting rid of her.

“I told them what they should do is form themselves into a group and petition the party to do it, but it didn’t start with me.

“I told them there was need for it because if the majority of her generals, the generals who got her elected, tell the FNM ‘listen if you send her we are not supporting her we are going to do just like how we did in 2002 with Jimmy Knowles’ if the FNM goes and sends her then they deserve what they are going to get, because if they send her down there she will get beat,” Mr Wells added.

Meanwhile, La-Sandra Knowles, chairwoman of the Long Island FNM Association said she didn’t have any knowledge of the petition. She attributed it to “mischief makers” on the island, adding that the association had already sent an official letter of support for the MP to the party.

Another association executive member, Charles Carroll, insisted that the majority of Long Islanders continued to support Mrs Butler-Turner. He said the MP had continued to offer stellar representation in the constituency. Mr Carroll said he was told there were already 450 signatures to the petition, but he expressed doubt that this was actually the case.

Disgruntled

Nonetheless there are those on the island who insisted that they could under no circumstances support the incumbent MP. Bernard Adderley is one of those people.

He told The Tribune that many constituents remained disgruntled as they have yet to recover from damage caused by Hurricane Joaquin last October.

He said: “People are disgruntled from the storm. People are still outdoors and still don’t have relief.

“They (the government) gave people the vouchers for farm produce and some people took trips to Nassau to go to the farm place to collect items and they don’t have anything and people are disgruntled in every aspect.

“You know as an MP people may not expect you to give them monies but they feel good when they see you have that hands on and you are right there with them. Even if you can’t help them financially at least you showing them that you care and you are there for them. I didn’t support the FNM in the last election and I definitely can’t support her this time around because she made promises that she could not keep.

“Butler could have done more if she had made an effort to get something done, but nothing was done. People in Long Island are trying to figure out what’s the sense of them voting or registering because we don’t get anything,” he added.

Petition

The petition did not specifically name its supporters, but instead bore a blanket title of “members and supporters of the Free National Movement (and) residents in the Long Island constituency”.

The letter made it clear that its focus was to reject the representation of Mrs Butler-Turner if she is nominated for the 2017 general election. It further branded her as “divisive”.

“One must be able to follow, before one can lead,” the petition says. “Mrs Butler-Turner has demonstrated that she is not prepared to follow, she must lead. She is divisive, is unwilling to abide by and respect our democratic principles. Further, we abhor her public contrived utterances to humiliate and demean our leader. United we stand, divided we fall. United we must be, to defeat the corrupt PLP from what we see and read in the media, she cannot be trusted.

“She questioned our leader’s ability to lead, but we in Long Island have tangible evidence of her inability to lead in a constituency, much less a country. One needs only to hear the many stories and complaints from Long Islanders, pertaining to the selection of ‘point persons’ charged with the responsibility of storage and distribution of goods and services to the needy, post-hurricane Joaquin. A responsible and caring leader should recognise that politics has no place in the aftermath of a national disaster, but unfortunately, it cannot be denied that Mrs Butler-Turner selected many individuals with absolutely no management skills.”

The petition continued: “There are many questions regarding the selection of delegates for the recent convention. Were Long Islanders apprised of the meeting and its purpose? It is apparent that one had to be resident in a ‘preferred’ settlement according to Mrs Butler-Turner to qualify for consideration as a delegate. Unfortunately, but true, that’s our member of Parliament’s modus operandi as one seldom is aware of a community meeting called by Mrs Butler-Turner to afford Long Islanders the opportunity to voice concerns and recommendations. One would think that a non-resident member of Parliament would have community meetings, at least quarterly. Again, it is alleged that she visits the ‘chosen few’.”

The petition called for representation from a native born Long Islander who is prepared to fight for every resource and opportunity to enhance the development of young people on the island among other things.

“Believe and accept the fact that should our request for a candidate other than Mrs Butler-Turner be denied, we are prepared to nominate and elect a worthy Independent,” the petition read.

Mrs Butler-Turner did not offer comment when contacted yesterday.