All speculation was put to rest yesterday afternoon as former prime minister, Hubert Alexander Ingraham, was nominated to contest the leadership of the Free National Movement.
It brought to a head several weeks of political intrigue as to whether he would enter the race.
Mr. Ingraham will be going head to head with incumbent Senator Tommy Turnquest, who he supported as his successor in the 2001 FNM leadership election.
Dion Foulkes, a deputy to Mr. Turnquest in that leadership race, was also nominated yesterday for the leadership post.
Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith nominated Mr. Ingraham for leader and Lucaya MP Neko Grant seconded that nomination at the Wyndham Nassau Resort, where the party is in convention.
Nominated for the deputy leader post were FNM Chairman Carl Bethel; Montagu MP Brent Symonette; and incumbent Sidney Collie.
Former FNM candidate for St. Margaret Loretta Butler-Turner and former FNM Senator Desmond Bannister were nominated for national chairperson.
Mr. Ingraham was noticeably absent during the nominations and Mr. Turnquest left the hall without speaking to reporters.
Despite the fact that the former prime minister has entered the race, Mr. Foulkes remained confident.
“This is the first time in the history of the FNM that every position of all [52] party officers has been contested,” he said.
“It’s a very lively convention. The next two days should be very exciting. I feel very confident of victory. I feel that I would get the majority of the votes. I have led a very positive campaign, one of unity and I did not get into any personal attacks with any of the other candidates.”
Mr. Foulkes said he has a “great vision” for the reformation of the country.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Turnquest also expressed confidence that he would be re-elected.
He also responded to a statement that had been released by Mr. Ingraham a day before which hinted that he would be willing to accept the nomination.
“I was-surprised at Mr. Ingraham’s statement yesterday,” Mr. Turnquest said. “Mr. Ingraham had indicated to me on Sunday evening that he was going to make a statement on Monday. He did indicate that he was going to indicate in his statement that he did not want to run and was going to encourage persons not to nominate him. His statement said otherwise.”
Following the nomination, Mr. Symonette said, “I think all of us who were nominated all have our slates. We’ve all been in the party a long time and served in various capacities and it’s up to the delegates. If they decide to choose one of the others apart from me, I would fully support their choice because it is their ultimate choice.”
During the nomination process, one of Mr. Turnquest’s staunch supporters, Ricardo Smith, reportedly sought to engage the session chairman, Michael Barnett, on the issue of Mr. Ingraham’s absence.
He was, however, shouted down by many delegates and Mr. Barnett refused to entertain any debate on the matter.
A motion was then passed to close that particular nomination and move on to the nomination of other offices.
Interest was extremely high as nearly 100 percent of the delegates turned out for the session.
Dozens of supporters for each leadership candidate were out in the lobby campaigning for their candidate.
Some candidates had booths, with supporters serving coffee to delegates as they entered the hall.
One delegate told The Bahama Journal that supporters of particular candidates were endorsing slates of officers.
The elections are scheduled to take place on Thursday.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
