By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

ST ANNE’S MP Hubert Chipman said yesterday he is considering running as an Independent candidate in that constituency, claiming that campaigning on the Free National Movement’s ticket in view of his vote of no confidence in party leader Dr Hubert Minnis is “not an option”.

Last year, Mr Chipman withdrew his name from consideration for a renomination by the FNM for St Anne’s, at the time saying that it was clear that Dr Minnis no longer wanted his contribution.

Mr Chipman, in an interview with The Tribune at his home in eastern New Providence, appeared to backtrack from his October 2 decision to withdraw his name from consideration from the upcoming election.

Mr Chipman said his reluctance to “close the door” on his constituents was largely the result of him being “bombarded” with a number of emails, phone calls, and personal house calls by various members of the St Anne’s constituency who urged him to consider running as an Independent, as well as discussions with his family following his announcement.

Mr Chipman said a decision on whether he will run may come by the end of this month. However, he said, his reluctance to align himself with any other political party after having devoted 45 years of his life to the FNM, along with his vote of no confidence in Dr Minnis, makes it all the more likely that he would campaign independently.

Mr Chipman is a member of the “rebel seven” parliamentarians who, on December 7, 2016 sent a letter to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling expressing no confidence in Dr Minnis and asked that he be replaced as Official Opposition leader by Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner.

A three-person tribunal has been appointed by the party to decide the fate of those MPs.

“I haven’t given any thought about aligning myself with a party,” Mr Chipman told The Tribune. “As you know on December 7 we expressed a no confidence vote in Dr Minnis, and since then what has transpired is I think we are before the disciplinary committee, so I think the FNM is not an option. I’ve been an FNM for 45 years. I don’t see myself joining another party, so if I’m expelled, suspended or whatever, then I would probably consider running Independent, if I run.”

Last October, various residents of the St Anne’s constituency, many of them long-time FNM supporters, expressed how unsettled they were at the FNM’s decision not to renominate Mr Chipman in the area and had urged him to run as an Independent candidate.

At the time, The Tribune reported that the residents expressed outrage at what they saw as centralised groups like the Executive Committee of the party ignoring the consensus within the constituency without providing a credible reason for doing so.

“I have developed a very good relationship with the people of St Anne’s, throughout St Anne’s, whether it’s in the Johnson Road area, whether it’s in the Winton area, whether it’s in the Camperdown area or San Souci, Nassau East,” Mr Chipman said yesterday. “So I am considering, I’m listening to the people. I have not made a decision. I want that to be very definitive. I have not made a decision that I would offer. They want me to run as an Independent candidate. I have not made a decision on that yet.

“I care about the people of St Anne’s, and I think over the years I have attempted or visited most homes in St Anne’s,” he added. “I developed some serious relationships with these people. I constantly do work in St Anne’s. I’ve fixed roads, I have made sure all of the lights were on, anything that needed to be done in St Anne’s. I’ve actually built a gazebo on Sapphire Ridge Park with a grill, I have put some playground equipment in the back of my headquarters on Johnson Road which is a mini park with a basketball court. The basketball court itself has been redone. I’ve had summer schools for kids, and I think if you go back to my October 2 letter it’s all detailed as to what I have done in St Anne’s.

“So as a result of that I wouldn’t close the door on these people. I’ll probably make a decision by the end of January, so I continue to listen to them.”

Mr Chipman also said that if he decides to run as an independent candidate, this would likely not hurt his chances at being re-elected in the area, given his rapport with members of the eastern New Providence community.

“It would probably be more difficult,” he said. “However, my work speaks for itself. I think the people in St Anne’s can identify with me.”