THERE is no sign of peace breaking out in the ranks of the FNM.

Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis had teased the prospect of running in the next election before – and yesterday he went all in.

“I want to remind them that I am running in Killarney and I look forward to their vote and I look forward to their continued support. We must keep Killarney strong; Killarney will remain strong,” he proclaimed in Parliament.

He made it clear – he’s running in the next election.

The FNM leader, Michael Pintard, has also made it clear – back in April – that Dr Minnis will not be renominated.

Dr Minnis did not clarify in what capacity he will run – but if his leader stays true to his word, there will be no room in the FNM for him.

Constitutionally, that could see him ousted from the party. If you run as an independent or if you oppose a candidate chosen by the party, you “are deemed to have resigned from the FNM” under party rules.

So unless Dr Minnis has some plan to topple his own leader, or sees some avenue where Mr Pintard will change his mind, he is headed out of the party he led to a landslide victory in 2017 – and a landslide defeat at the end of his term.

That will in turn have consequences for the party internally – Dr Minnis is a divisive figure, but he still retains significant support, not least of all in the Killarney constituency.

He may have lost leadership battles decisively after his tenure as prime minister, but his support in Killarney could cost the FNM the seat – either by cutting into their vote enough to allow a PLP victory, or by losing it to Dr Minnis as an independent or whatever banner he might run under.

In the ideal world, former leaders would find a way – and have a way found for them – to continue to contribute within a party. Whatever one’s view of Dr Minnis, he led the nation at a time of two major crises – COVID and Hurricane Dorian – and that experience could be vital to draw upon.

Unity has long seemed an unlikely prospect – so what will come next? That is the challenge facing the FNM.

Dr Minnis has played his cards. It’s time to see what’s in the FNM’s hand.

An app to state the obvious?

An app has been announced to be able to report potholes and other trouble spots.

At first blush, it sounds like a good idea. But is it really?

After all, we only have to look around to see various problem areas that have presumably been noticed already but never been dealt with.

The traffic lights at Montagu, both on Bay Street and Shirley Street, have not been working for more than a week.

Those are busy, dangerous junctions, and we are quite sure plenty of ministry staff, perhaps the minister himself, have passed through there, hoping other traffic will give way to let them reach their destinations. And yet… no repair.

How about nearby on Bay Street, where a seam opened up across most of both lanes, bringing traffic to a crawl – only to have the hole half patched up but not properly fixed? That presumably has been noticed too.

How about the unsightly wooden construction at Go Slow Bend, which has been there for months, obscuring the view while looking like a good sneeze would knock it over let alone a speeding vehicle. Is there any chance something professional might take the place of that ramshackle arrangement that would not look out of place in a shanty town rather than at one of the premier views in The Bahamas?

If we are not fixing the obvious things, forgive the skepticism over whether an app will bring the repair crews rushing out to act.