By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette last evening indicated that he has no interest in usurping Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis if the party is victorious at the polls in the upcoming election.

During an address at the FNM’s eastern New Providence regional candidates launch, Mr Symonette, who served during the last Ingraham administration, said his sole reason for returning to frontline politics after a one-term hiatus is to rescue the country from the peril brought on by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds of party supporters, Mr Symonette responded to speculation about his motives: “I am here tonight to declare that I have no such intention. We have one leader, Dr Hubert Minnis.”

To a jubilant reaction, the St Anne’s candidate said the only party that should be concerned about a post-election struggle for power is the PLP.

Mr Symonette asserted that win or lose, Prime Minister Perry Christie could expect a strong push by Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis for the reins of leadership.

“What they should be afraid about is, well they are not going to win, but if they do win Perry Christie will only last one day because (Philip) ‘Brave’ Davis and his bunch will throw (Mr Christie) out.

“To use Perry Christie’s words, we have to save the Bahamas from that,” Mr Symonette said.

“So while Perry (Christie) is swinging and shuffling, Brave (Davis) will take it over. But they will not win,” he added.

Recently Mr Davis and Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller have publicly floated the idea that if the FNM is successful in the next general election, Dr Minnis would be ousted by those within the party eager to hold the seat of power.

The premise started with Mr Miller early this month, who in interviews with the press suggested that Dr Minnis will face a push for power within weeks of being elected.

Later Mr Davis said that Mr Symonette’s return to frontline politics was due to the latter sensing “a weak leader” in Dr Minnis, and that Mr Symonette consequently “thinks it’s his time to get in.”

In response last evening, Mr Symonette said the assertions are all done in an effort to distract the electorate from the failures of the Christie administration over the course of its tenure.

“It ain’t long now, and on Election Day you vote them out,” declared Mr Symonette.

Last night’s rally featured remarks from several other candidates and party standouts, including former Cabinet minister Janet Bostwick, Yamacraw candidate Elsworth Johnson, Seabreeze candidate Lanisha Rolle, Fox Hill candidate Shonel Ferguson and Elizabeth candidate Dr Duane Sands.

For his part, Mr Johnson, former Bar Association president, castigated the government for its handling of both the country’s justice system and branches of law enforcement.

Mr Johnson branded the government as a force unlike anything seen before. He alleged that the abuse endured by the judiciary under the PLP had many in the sector afraid for their social and financial futures.

“Nobody has the right to demonise the court. To try and frighten them and threaten them with imprisonment because you are dissatisfied with a judgment of the court,” Mr Johnson said, appearing to refer to Parliament’s proposed probe of a court ruling by Justice Indra Charles.

“An FNM government will ensure that all in the Bahamas are protected. I can tell you that an FNM government, led by Dr Hubert Minnis is committed to investing in the judicial systems that judges no longer have to be troubled by what is and what was labelled by Sir Burton Hall, the former Chief Justice of The Bahamas, as bureaucratic impertinence.”

Ms Ferguson used her address to present plans directly to the people of Fox Hill, promising her base that if elected, she would begin efforts on day one to improve the constituency’s fire services and drainage.

Dr Sands moved to further end speculation over his relationship with Dr Minnis, comparing his status in the party to a person underdressed for an event. To close out his address he put on ‘Roc with Doc’ ball-cap and said: “Now I am ready. It is time to ‘roc with Doc.’”

Lanisha Rolle used her allotted time to address her opponents in the Seabreeze constituency, insisting that her plans for the community, if embraced, would improve the lives of residents. She said the promises of current Seabreeze MP Hope Strachan have left the people of that constituency in a dire state, asserting that she was there to deliver a better future for that area.

In a surprising address, Mrs Bostwick endorsed Mr Johnson in Yamacraw, an area she once represented and called for the entire eastern district of New Providence to “set the pace on Election Day.”

Mrs Bostwick said she sees no need for the PLP to be returned to office, branding the party as the worst government in the history of the country.

Dr Minnis was unable to address the crowd due to unexpected rain, but in a prepared statement sent to members of the press last evening prior to the party’s event, he insisted that his “doing much but talking little” approach to governance will benefit the Bahamas, a drastic improvement over the “failing to do anything while wasting the people’s time and money” nature of Mr Christie.

The prepared speech noted that the “talkative” Mr Christie will soon conclude that the Bahamian people have grown tired and toned him out.

Presenting himself as an eager to work candidate, Dr Minnis’ prepared remarks asserted that at every stage of his life he has been working to improve the lives of Bahamians while Mr Christie has spent his “talking”.