FNM Civil War: When the Scabs Come Off, Who Will Be Left Standing?

The on-again, off-again FNM convention has become more than an internal party matter. It is beginning to resemble a political suspense movie, with shifting alliances, private meetings, old generals reappearing and ambitious contenders watching every move. Bahamians may as well order the buttered popcorn, because before the credits roll, the battle for control of the Free National Movement could leave political casualties scattered everywhere.

Michael Pintard is still standing.

After the FNM’s May 12 general-election defeat, when the party won eight seats, questions about Pintard’s leadership intensified. Recent reports have described meetings involving senior FNM figures, including gatherings associated with former leader Tommy Turnquest, amid pressure for an earlier convention. Yet Pintard has reportedly made his position plain: if there is a leadership contest, he intends to fight it.

That changes the equation.

Those who imagined Pintard quietly surrendering the keys to the FNM may have underestimated both his determination and the advantages of incumbency. He knows the organization, its personalities and its pressure points. More importantly, he has already survived an internal challenge: in 2024 he defeated former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis 486 votes to 163 at the party’s convention.

But removing Pintard could require reopening wounds the FNM once thought had healed.

Hubert Ingraham remains an imposing figure in the party’s history, and reports of his involvement in discussions surrounding the FNM’s future inevitably stir memories of old alliances and old rivalries. Meanwhile, other names circulate around the leadership conversation. Andre Rollins, for example, publicly stated this month that he has made no decision to challenge Pintard and continues to recognise him as leader.

Then there is Grand Bahama.

Pintard represents Marco City, while Kwasi Thompson represents East Grand Bahama, making the island impossible to ignore in any serious discussion about the FNM’s future. Reports involving veteran FNM figure C.A. Smith only add another layer to the power struggle, although claims about his precise position should be treated as political reporting rather than established party fact.

This is where the danger lies.

If the contest becomes an exercise in digging up dirt, settling old scores and mobilizing competing camps, the convention will cease being merely about Michael Pintard. It will become a referendum on decades of unresolved FNM history.

Every faction that fires at Pintard risks exposing itself. Every old warrior who enters the battlefield creates another centre of influence. Every backroom meeting produces another suspicion about who promised what to whom.

Pintard appears to understand the chessboard: if his opponents cannot unite behind one alternative, their numbers may matter less than their fragmentation.

The FNM therefore faces a paradox. A convention intended to settle its leadership question could instead deepen it. The attempt to remove one man may rip the scabs from wounds that never completely healed.

And somewhere outside FNM headquarters, the Bahamian public will be watching—with the buttered popcorn ready.

Because when this political movie ends, the biggest question may not be who becomes leader.

It may be: who is left standing after the party is destroyed beyond repair.

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