As the one-day convention for the Free National Movement draws near, St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright endorsed Marco City MP Michael Pintard for leadership of the party.
Cartwright is one of the 7 FNM MPs who retained their seats in Parliament following the general election.
Many pondered whether Cartwright, a well-liked parliamentarian would have contended for the leadership post, but he never gave a distinct answer, only to say that he could vie for any of the leadership posts which also include the deputy leadership or chairmanship position.
Now that the convention is on Saturday, Cartwright has endorsed Pintard. Cartwright was seen sitting next to Pintard at Bahamas Harvest Church where Pintard’s campaign team held a church service on Wednesday. This signaled his support for the parliamentarian.
Cartwright said Pintard is best suited to bring “generational change and transformational leadership” to the party.
“…in this moment, with his capacity to unify the Free National Movement, it is my humble belief that Michael C. Pintard fulfills that promise,” he said.
The FNM suffered a crushing defeat at the polls on September 16, in an early election called by former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, winning only 7 of the 39 seats.
Since the loss, blame has been assigned to Minnis, causing factions within the party.
Pintard, who goes up against East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson and Central Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis, promises to unify the factions in the party.
The party will hold another election in February to elect members for other positions. It remains to be seen if Cartwright will contend for any of those positions.