Elizabeth MP Dr. Duane Sands is considering ditching the Free National Movement and crossing the floor to become a member of the Progressive Liberal Party.
Insiders close to Sands spilled the tea after former FNM MP Vaughn Miller announced he will join the PLP.
Sands, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Minnis Administration since Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis forced him to resign from his post as Minister of Health, knows he won’t be able to secure another FNM nomination in the 2022 General Election. Therefore he is weighing his political options and has reportedly put out feelers to see if the PLP would be interested.
Sands has refused to support the government’s resolution to extend the state of emergency to the end of October, earning himself another strike in the book of the petty Dr. Minnis.
The two men never saw eye to eye but Minnis was pressured by FNM financial backers to give Sands the nomination for Elizabeth even after Sands joined forces with former Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner to try and oust Minnis as FNM leader.
Their bad blood stems back to 2011 when then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham ran Sands as the FNM candidate in the Elizabeth bye-election. If Sands had defeated PLP candidate Ryan Pinder, Ingraham had intended to appoint him as Minister of Health and replace Minnis, whom Ingraham felt was an ineffective Minister who was “out to lunch” for much of the five-year term.
Minnis was threatened by Sands and was out to get him from then. Sands was no fan of Minnis’ either and never viewed him as fit to lead.
However, Sands - a far more competent Minister of Health than Hubert Minnis - was determined to toe the party line. That is until Minnis made him the scapegoat following the controversial decision to allow Americans to disembark a private aircraft in New Providence after donating test swabs. Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar, who was also involved, walked away from the debacle unscathed.
Now, Sands is left with the decision of whether to end his long sought after political career following five years in office or cross the floor in hopes of holding onto his seat in parliament.
Party insiders have been silent on whether they would entertain Sands becoming the sixth PLP MP.