Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 3 © BahamasUncensored.Com
MR. MEAN AND NASTY IS BACK
It
is the greatest form of political treachery since Brutus stabbed Caesar
in the Roman Senate on the morning of the Ides of March so many millennia
ago. Hubert Ingraham set up Tommy Turnquest for the kill, and Mr.
Turnquest was or is apparently a willing lamb to the slaughter. That
is the only way we can describe the series of orchestrated events that
have taken place over the past months and within the past week.
On Tuesday 27th September, the country woke up to headlines that there was a move afoot by the Members of Parliament of the Opposition Free National Movement who are led in Parliament by the hapless, pleasant but hopeless Alvin Smith to replace both Mr. Smith and Senator Tommy Turnquest, the leader of the Party with Mr. Ingraham. Mr. Turnquest denied that any such move was afoot. He said that he had been assured by Mr. Ingraham that he was not running for leadership of the Party and that he supported Mr. Turnquest. Mr. Smith went further on the radio and said that he had not heard that Mr. Ingraham was coming back but that he would do what was necessary to help move the party forward. That as we say was on Tuesday.
Things went rapidly down hill for Tommy Turnquest, Alvin Smith and the FNM from there. There was extensive reporting in all the press about how the FNM Members of Parliament had met on Monday the 26th September and demanded that Tommy Turnquest step down and accept Mr. Ingraham as leader. Mr. Turnquest refused. He spoke to the press and said that he was not talking about the internal politics of the FNM and that he remained the leader. He said he thought it was a good meeting. Mr. Ingraham, he said, was his friend. The only one who could believe that was he. What a naïve fellow? The fact that all of the details of the meeting were leaked out to the newspapers showed that Mr. Turnquest was done, and that Mr. Ingraham had successfully done him in.
Here is how we see it. Mr. Ingraham practices the politics of worthlessness. He is like one of those old boxing champions that can’t seem to get it. It is time to retire and let another generation have its time. His time is up but he won’t retire voluntarily. He wants to be beaten senseless.
After destroying the FNM in 2002 and adding to its loss because he did not accept that he had to live up to his promise to leave the Government after two terms; after fooling Lynden Pindling, a sick and dying man to step down from Parliament because he needed his money, knowing that Sir Lynden was owed $500,000 which the PLP later had to pay; after double dipping from the Public Treasury accepting a salary and his pension and remaining an active Member of Parliament; he has now stabbed Tommy Turnquest in the back politically speaking. It is a shameful act. It was the same thing that Mr. Ingraham did to Pierre Dupuch, to Tennyson Wells and to Algernon Allen while they were in the FNM. One thing one can say is a snake is snake no matter what guise it comes in.
What is worse is that Tommy Turnquest, and Alvin Smith, and Brent Symonette who is to become the deputy show themselves to be so weak. Mr. Symonette does not have the courage to run for leader, which is the job he really wants, so he wants to get there under the skirt of Mr. Ingraham, fooling people. Alvin Smith and Tommy Turnquest have to stand up and fight. For Mr. Turnquest there is no choice but to stand up and fight even if he only gets his own vote at the convention. His self respect alone demands nothing less.
The morning before the final knife wound was made, Mr. Turnquest orchestrated a vote of his delegates of the convention with the picture of Ricardo Smith, a discredited political figure, voting to support Mr. Turnquest. That did not move the FNM Council who on the night of Thursday 29th September voted 88 to 40 to support Mr. Ingraham coming back to be the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament, completing the betrayal of Mr. Turnquest by Mr. Ingraham’s supporters. What a weak and senseless and disparate group of men and women. The man who caused them to lose is coming back to cause them to lose again.
We have lots of advice for the PLP in the circumstances. But the Chair of the PLP Raynard Rigby said that it was a sad day for democracy in the The Bahamas with the official Opposition fighting about who should be the leader. Prime Minister Christie speaking to the Stalwart Council Banquet in South Andros said it best: “We have one Leader in the PLP. There is no confusion in the PLP”. Could not have said it better!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 1st October 2005 at midnight: 82,625.
Number of hits for the month ending Friday 30th September 2005 at midnight: 345,670.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 1st October 2005 at midnight: 2,855,468.
TENNYSON
WELLS REACTION TO INGRAHAM
Tennyson Wells, the Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town, who sits as an
independent but is really a disgruntled FNM, had plenty to say about Hubert
Ingraham’s return to the leadership of the Free National Movement.
Mr. Wells told The Tribune that the FNM cannot win with Mr. Ingraham at
the helm. His remarks were published on Thursday 29th September.
Mr. Wells ran for the leadership of the FNM in 2002 but opposed by Mr.
Ingraham, he lost. Here is what he had to say in his own words:
“If Mr. Ingraham leads the FNM into the next election
as many as 25 per cent of the diehard FNMs won’t come out to support the
party at the polls.
“No political party in the past few elections have
won with more than 58 per cent of the vote and there is about 20 per cent
of the FNM who will not come out to vote. They will lose.
“If Mr. Turnquest emerges out of Thursday
night’s meeting [29th September] [of the FNM Council] as leader, the FNM
would stand a better chance of winning. The Council is the supreme
authority of the party outside of convention and can indeed elect a new
leader for the FNM. But for the Council to do something like that
would be immoral and almost corrupt because it’s only six weeks to convention
and it would displace what the convention would be there to do.
“The party is rife with mischief makers, always
has been and they are not happy unless they have something that messes
with the smooth flow of the FNM.
“I have heard that [Hubert Ingraham] had meetings
all over the place with people to have him returned as leader. One
of the conditions to him returning was that he get (sic) to choose 26 of
the candidates exclusive of the seven who are there.
“This is a practice totally outside the tradition
of the FNM. What has been happening in the FNM in the past 12 years
would not have happened when Sir Cecil and Sir Kendal because they were
people who operated on principle, not expedience.”
WHAT
HAPPENED IN THE FNM COUNCIL
An insider at the Free National Movement’s Council
meeting told us that Thursday 29th September was a sad day. They
never thought that Tommy Turnquest was as naïve as he turned out to
be, and also so weak. The Free National Movement's Council was badgered
by its Members of Parliament, all seven of them who made it plain that
they were no longer prepared to follow the leadership of Tommy Turnquest
but as a compromise they would accept for the moment that the Council endorse
Mr. Ingraham as their leader in the House of Assembly.
Alvin Smith is said to be set to resign. No
word yet from the Governor General on whether this has been confirmed,
although for the moment the FNM’s propaganda mouthpiece The Tribune reported
on Saturday 1st October that Mr. Smith and Mr. Symonette will continue
in their present roles in the House when it reconvenes on Wednesday 5th
October. The thing is: what is Alvin Smith going to do for income?
He is already suffering, even with the $50,000 per year that he gets as
Leader of the Opposition in name. Some say that an arrangement will
be made with Mr. Ingraham for him to turn the money over to Mr. Smith.
With his return to the post of Leader of the Opposition,
the greedy actions of Mr. Ingraham will see him getting $28,000 as a Member
of Parliament, $100,000 as a former Prime Minister in pension and $50,000
as Leader of the Opposition. He will in fact be paid more than the
Prime Minister. Everyone has been saying that what Mr. Ingraham has
been doing is immoral and an act of cowardice but that has not stopped
him, and will not stop his crazed supporters from pushing their agenda.
The real point here will be how does the PLP react
to this? Will they shake in their boots or will they finally stand
up and say what they believe and fight to retain the office that so many
fought so hard to regain?
PETROCARIBE
IN THE NEWS AGAIN
With the price of gas going higher each week, and
with the price of the electricity surcharge now representing more than
seventy percent of your bill, that has quadrupled in recent months, it
appears that there is more and more desperation in the public policy on
the matter of gasoline.
The Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller,
accompanied by the head of the Petroleum Usage Review Committee, former
Shell Executive Vincent Coleby, have been promising if we sign the PetroCaribe
deal offered by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez that the price of gas will go down
in The Bahamas. That is demonstrably false and leads to false expectations.
Then the pair was forced to contradict a story based
on an unnamed source in the Nassau Guardian which said that one of the
hold ups was that Venezuela wanted to be part of the decision making on
how the money saved from cash flow in the PetroCaribe deal would be used.
That much is clear and true but the gentlemen said that was false.
The pair also raised the expectation that the Government
would adopt what they said was part of the report of the Committee that
the taxes would be lowered on gasoline. That too is false.
A Government must be careful how arguments are framed so that it does not
appear that there is an unseemly personal interest in pushing a particular
policy. One does not want to get into the same trap that the kooks
on the other side of the story like the Nassau Institute that argue just
as lamely that we will offend the Americans, that Chavez is a communist,
that this will spread their ideology into The Bahamas. From our point
of view, it is clear that this is not a deal for The Bahamas but let’s
keep the arguments at a certain level.
RUMOURS
OF A CABINET SHUFFLE AGAIN
The Tribune claims to have a special link to the inner mind of Prime Minister
Perry Christie or so it would appear. On Saturday 1st October, they
led with the incredible headline: RESHUFFLE RUMOURS. These are a
mix of the same rumours that have been circulating for years that the Prime
Minister was to make dramatic shifts in his Cabinet. All of them
have come to naught. It is amazing then that a mainstream newspaper
publishes rumours. The sub head was: MOVE COULD BE DEFENCE AGAINST
ANTIGOVERNMENT ALLEGATIONS. This is the continuance of their campaign
to bring back Hubert Ingraham. Their argument is that the PLP is
panicking because Mr. Ingraham is coming back. That has to be the
biggest joke.
Anyway here is what they say is to happen: Vincent
Peet, present Minister of Labour and Immigration to Financial Services
and Investment, now held by Allyson Maynard Gibson; Allyson Maynard Gibson
is to become Attorney General. Alfred Sears is to remain Minister
of Education. Melanie Griffin is to become the Minister of Housing
and Social Services, Dr. Marcus Bethel is to head the Ministry of National
Insurance. V. Alfred Gray is to become Minister for Local Government.
Leslie Miller is to become Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Fred Mitchell is to remain Minister of Foreign Affairs but also take on
international trade. Well your guess is as good as theirs. BIS
photo: Peter Ramsay
THE
NASSAU GUARDIAN GETTING JUST LIKE THE PUNCH
We are making a strong appeal to the Publisher of
The Nassau Guardian Charles Carter who is a former politician, a PLP Minister
no less, and who is himself a journalist and broadcaster. Something
must be done and done quickly to solve the problems at the Nassau Guardian.
Not only are the staff widely disgruntled with the pay and working conditions
there, but the newspaper has been taking on more and more of the image
of the down market Punch. In too many ways what appears therein is
not worthy of mainstream journalism with its commitment to balance, fairness
and accurate reporting. From a management point of view it appears
that much is desired as well.
It is inexplicable to the people of Freeport for
example that the Nassau Guardian has had a history of almost 20 years of
late arrival in Freeport. There is a flight there every day at 6
a.m. The Tribune manages to get there every day and is distributed
around the island by 9 a.m. Almost invariably, the Nassau Guardian
does not show and is not distributed until the next day. So the paper
is always running behind one day in Freeport. It then becomes irrelevant
as a source of information. One wonders why businessmen don’t sue
the Guardian for not delivering on producing the newspaper to the market
that it promises when they were buying advertising in the paper.
The Tribune manages to get there on time.
There is a history of editors most recently Oswald
Brown who simply decided that they don’t like what someone is saying so
they won't carry what that person says in the newspaper.
Most recently, though, the Nassau Guardian carried
a story on Friday 30th September under the banner headline TONIQUE TO GET
1 MILLION DOLLAR HOME (GOVT PLAN TO BUILD LUXURY HOME FOR STAR).
The story has no basis in fact. On Saturday 1st October, the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, denied the truth
of its content. The Nassau Guardian did not publish any correction
on the Saturday. It did not get an on the record comment from any
spokesman of the Ministry on the day they published the first erroneous
story. Shavaughn Moss, who is listed as the Guardian Sports Editor,
wrote the story. Both the Sports Editor and the Managing Editor of
the paper ought to have their journalistic ethics examined and it is up
to Mr. Carter to call them into account.
The story is based on a report from an unnamed Government
source who said that Ms. Williams Darling who won the Olympic Gold, a first
for a Bahamian as an individual athlete in Olympics; and then later at
the World Championships in Helsinki this year in the 400 metres, was about
to get this house. The source said that the athlete would get land
in an upscale area of the western district of New Providence, and that
the Ministry of Housing was to build her a luxury home. On that basis,
The Guardian then went to Geoffrey Brown, a real estate agent, who said
that land in Westridge, an upscale area of New Providence sells for around
$250,000 for 100 by 200 feet. He then said that to build a home in
the area would cost no less than $800,000 to one million dollars.
With that the Nassau Guardian said that The Bahamas
Government was going to give Tonique Williams Darling a one million dollars
home. From that the radio talk shows took off, badgering the athlete's
name in the airwaves, some saying that she should not get the house, others
going further and saying the proposal to name Harrold Road in New Providence
after her is premature and wrong and over the top.
The road proposal is a difficult one, and those
who object should if the time has not already run out write any objections
they have as required in law before the Minister can change the name of
a road. But we suspect all Bahamians want to do is row, not make
their objections known and force the Government to properly consider whether
this is the right thing. But back to the Nassau Guardian, something
has to be wrong with what they have done with that story. But we
believe that not one blessed thing will be done. Standards are all
out the window and anything appears to go around here.
PASTORS
VEX AS THE STRIPPERS GET OFF
The Tribune reported on Thursday 29th September
that three Bahamian Pastors Allan Lee, Lyall Bethel (brother of FNM Chairman
Carl Bethel) and Cedric Moss have expressed concerned about the acquittal
of “strip dancers” at the Butterfly Club in Nassau. The acquittal
took place on 21st September. The six Russian dancers, their Russian
manager, staff members of the Butterfly Club/ Bahamas Cabaret Limited were
charged with indecent behaviour and abetting indecent behaviour.
It is difficult to see how such a charge can stand in a club that is one
where consenting adults go for entertainment. The Magistrate ruled
in a no case submission that the prosecution had not proven their case,
and the persons were not called upon to mount a defence.
The case has caused the three pastors to be concerned
about the state of morality in the country. They claim that the public
may have misread the arguments of Wayne Munroe the attorney for the defence
to believe that prostitution and other forms of lewd commercial sex in
private are legal. The pastors claim that this is not the case in
The Bahamas. They added: “While we speak as pastors, we believe that
it is incumbent upon the government, all decent minded, law abiding citizens
in all spheres of society, to actively do all they can to resist the efforts
of a few persons who are driven by financial greed and who lack a moral
compass and any regard for the dignity of women and sexuality to continue
to further erode the moral fabric of our nation.”
A caller to a radio show on which the pastors appeared
asked them whether or not they are proposing to legislate morality.
The pastors have their right of free speech but in democratic society,
a secular state, not a religious theocracy, there are certain rights and
freedoms enshrined in the constitution, which despite the preamble that
talks about Christian values, overwhelmingly comes down in favour of a
balance of rights. The pastors, while they can sound the alarm and
keep us on the straight and narrow, need have no fears of any more than
a simple legal ruling within the context of the constitutional right of
each person as balanced against the public interest. It should not
be taken any further or out of its context.
REACTION
TO MITCHELL AT THE UN
The Bahamas is a peculiar country politically. Just over three months
ago, the entire nation seemed in revolt against any possible association
with the people of the Caribbean. It seemed like a full-scale retreat
from the world stage was in order. The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell
seemed the brunt of a co-ordinated campaign by FNM operatives and some
so called free thinkers to sabotage the country’s forward looking international
profile, so long as that profile meant associating with the Caribbean.
The Foreign Minister delivered the annual General
Assembly statement of the country on 22nd September. By all accounts
it seemed to go over like gang busters in the country, with one of the
pundits Andrew Allen suggesting that he might be on to something about
controlling the smuggling of weapons. The public itself seemed to
be quite chuffed that he appeared to tell the Americans that they had treated
the country most unfairly because they had listed the country as a drug
transhipment country. You may click here
for the full statement.
The reaction of the public caught the eye and the
pen of Stan Burnside, the Nassau Guardian cartoonist and we thought that
we should share it with you from their paper of Monday 26th September.
JUSTINE
CLEARE CALLED TO THE BAR
Attorney H. Campbell Cleare III, a partner in the
firm McKinney Bancroft and Hughes and his wife Sharon have a beautiful
and brilliant daughter, Justine. On Friday 30th September she was called
to the Bar of The Bahamas as a counsel and attorney at law. She was
called with one dozen others. Amongst the others called was the daughter
of the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Peter Ramsay was there
and took this photo of the young Ms. Cleare with her father after the call.
NEW
SOCIAL SERVICE OFFICE IN FOX HILL
There is a new office for Social Services in Fox
Hill. As host of the official opening, the Minister of Social Services
and Community Development Melanie Griffin pointed out that the office is
to serve those people who need help and who reside in the entire Eastern
District of New Providence from the constituencies of Fox Hill, Montague,
Yamacraw, Marathon, Elizabeth and Holy Cross. Leading the luminaries
at the opening was the Prime Minister, Perry Christie. Mr. Christie
renewed his pledge to help to find innovative ways to help the poor.
Minister of Housing and National Insurance Shane Gibson was there.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and The Public Service
Fred Mitchell, who is the representative for Fox Hill, used the occasion
to talk about the hard cases that need to be solved in Fox Hill; and the
necessity to be sensitive to the needs of the poor. You may click
here for his address.
100 year old Fox Hill resident Rowena Archer,
centre, cuts the ribbon to officially open the new Fox Hill Outreach Centre
on Thursday, September 29, 2005. Shown from left are the Minister
Shane Gibson, Minister Melanie Griffin, Mrs. Archer, Prime Minister Perry
Christie, Minister Mitchell and Reverend Dr. Carrington Pinder, pastor
St. Mark's Native Baptist Church. BIS Photo: Tim Aylen
D.P.M.
AND U.S. AMBASSADOR READ WITH THE KIDS
It was time for reading classes again, and the children
of Ridgeland Primary school had special guests to come and lead them in
their lessons. The pair of special guests were the Deputy Prime Minister
Cynthia Pratt and the Ambassador of the United States to The Bahamas John
Rood. It was an engaging photo and we thought you should see it.
The photo is by Tim Aylen of the Bahamas Information Services and took
place on Thursday 29th September.
POETRY FEATURE
Who is really the potter and who serves as the clay?
This week’s verse is, ‘MUSE’. Please click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist,
Giovanni.Stuart (www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
I take issues with the statement “However we
make no bones about our unabashed support for him [Fred Mitchell] and for
any PLP”. Journalists have a responsibility to the citizens of the
Commonwealth of the Bahamas for the objective dissemination of information
and accurate fact finding. For as we all know, a better informed
society make informed decisions and as a result, a more productive society.
I hope that this column is paid for by whoever you claim to support.
I find it interesting that many of the individuals who you support and
individuals who you categorically oppose are often seen dining together
and laughing up a storm.
Let me remind you, that at the end of the day,
politicians come and go and even some political parties become irrelevant
but it is the Commonwealth of the Bahamas that must and will stand the
test of time. History will eventually explain anything that is in
dispute or has stirred controversy. How will this column defend itself
when the next generation of ambitious, patriotic and optimistic Bahamians
craving knowledge expose the partisan, unfair and reputation bashing journalism
that has been documented permanently? Short term partisan gain and
political mileage will never in a thousand years be a substitute for genuine
concern, positive contribution and long term development of our country.
Who are you serving?
Concerned Citizen
Clearly, you misunderstand the purpose of this column. This
is an opinion site, not a news site. Its opinion is that the PLP
and those who are PLPs are good for the country on balance, despite the
faults which we ourselves might find. That is why we make it clear
who we support, so you know in advance what you are reading, unlike the
newspapers in our country that all masquerade as being objective but in
fact support the Free National Movement or better yet, anything that is
anti PLP. – Editor
FOOTNOTES
TO TROUBLE
The Trade Unions’ leaders have issued an ultimatum
of the Government. On Friday 30th September, the leader of the National
Congress of Trade Unions Pat Bain announced that unless the Government
responded favourably to certain demands they were making by 5th October
2005, there would be some unspecified serious action taken. Not to
be outdone Obie Ferguson, the leader of the Trade Union Congress said that
there would be three surprises in store for the Government. The House
of Assembly meets on Wednesday 5th October.
The newly reelected President of the Bahamas Public
Service Union John Pinder promised before his election that he would lead
the workers of the BPSU to the streets in a mass demotion for money that
is not there to give. So with Hubert Ingraham set to return with
the rude and nasty tactics to the House from Wednesday, and with the Unions
joining up to create mayhem, it might be quite a party on the 5th October.
By the way, Wednesday 5th October will be the 52nd
birthday of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred
Mitchell. He should plan to have quite a party on that day.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Stalwart Councillors party: This photo is from a
banquet held to honour newly installed Stalwart Councillors of the Progressive
Liberal Party held over the weekend in Andros. Below, the Prime Minister
consults with Ministers Melanie Griffin and Shane Gibson at the official
opening of a satellite centre of the Ministry of Social Services and Community
Development ini Fox Hill.
Peter Ramsay photos
FNM IN CHAOS
Oh what a web we weave when first we practice to deceive
--Shakespeare
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry
-- Robert Burns
The
moments in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 5th October 2005 will go
down in history as full of poetic drama. There were plays within
plays; there was comedy; there was tragedy. Shakespearean moments!
Dickensian Moments! The chickens came home to roost. These
were poetic moments. The PLP was simply on a watching brief, as the
Opposition’s effort at a dramatic comeback turned into a pathetic puff
of wind.
All week long before the House met, the FNM was saying that the PLP had no agenda and that the country was tired of the PLP. They said that the Big Chief, the man who said he would only be king for ten years or two terms, wanted, needed to be king again. His operatives were busy fanning the flames for his return. He was said to be up and down the country encouraging a comeback. The FNM MPs met and plotted and schemed. They betrayed Senator Tommy Turnquest, the man who took the loss for Hubert Ingraham in 2002 and then stayed on despite being embarrassed into having lost his own seat and sitting in the Senate. Now as the election is coming near, and six weeks before their convention would have decided anyway, there was an attempt at a palace coup by FNM MPs and former MPs.
It is difficult to know who delivered the unkindest cut. There were so many. Frank Watson, the former Deputy Prime Minister and party leader savaged Tommy Turnquest beyond measure. He said that Tommy didn’t get it. That Tommy was not connecting with the people. He said that Tommy had a choice to make. This was presumably with the tacit support of Mr. Ingraham, since Mr. Watson does not have an original thought in his head. Then as the strategy failed in the House, one of Mr. Ingraham's other operatives Ossie Marshall said that Mr. Watson should be sanctioned for attacking Tommy.
So today, we print what Mr. Watson had to say in his own words; what Tennyson Wells had to say in his own words; what Pierre Dupuch had to say in his own words; what Tommy had to say in his own words; what Brent Symonette had to say in his own words.
We note that Mr. Ingraham had nothing to say, and in fact took the chicken run as soon as Tennyson Wells raised the constitutional issue of who was the real Leader of the Opposition in the House. Mr. Ingraham picked up his georgie bundle and fled for the tall grass. Shakespeare said a coward dies a thousand deaths, the valiant only once. Judge then for yourself what Mr. Ingraham can be called.
Tennyson Wells made the point that Alvin Smith, the hapless, nice, but hopeless Leader of the Opposition had announced that he did not have confidence in himself and was stepping down in favour of Mr. Ingraham. The other FNM MPs did as well. That meant that the Governor General was bound to take note that there was no one who filled the position of Leader of the group opposed to the Government. Read article 82 (4) of the Constitution. Mr. Wells said it showed disrespect for our institutions.
Prime Minister Christie called the entire matter sad, sickening, disgraceful and immoral.
Arthur Foulkes, excuse us Sir Arthur, who had to postpone his planned attack on this column to respond to Raynard Rigby, the PLP's Chairman, said in his latest column that the PLP’s lament for the FNM was crocodile tears. We wonder what he has to say now. As inventive as he is, he cannot pretend that this kind of democracy is good for his party or for the country. It is sad, sickening and disgraceful.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 8th October 2005 at midnight: 88,896.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 8th October 2005 at midnight: 97,432.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 8th October at midnight:
2,952,900.
WHAT
THEY SAID IN THEIR OWN WORDS
… ABOUT THE FNM’S LEADER
Frank Watson, former Deputy Prime Minister, spoke last Sunday in
a slash and burn interview with Wendall Jones and Godfrey Eneas on Love
97 for the Jones & Co Radio show:
“If I were him (Tommy Turnquest) I would have to think that you can’t continue
to be defeated by motions which you carry or have the Council make decisions
contrary to your wishes. That’s demoralizing and I think it erodes
your moral authority to lead these people, and so I think he has to make
a choice.
“[When FNM MPS asked Senator Turnquest to allow
Mr. Ingraham to take over the Parliamentary Leader’s post] …they were obviously
responding to the cries of their own constituents and hearing the louder
cry in the country and they thought that something had to be done for the
FNM to step up the pace and to appear to be doing the job of representing
the opposition in The Bahamas.
“They did not think that was coming from the
leadership presently. They went to the Right Honourable Hubert Ingraham
and asked him if he would accept the job of leader in the House.
He told them that if they gave him the job he would have no choice but
to take it but that he would wish that they would first speak with the
Leader of the Party Tommy Turnquest and get the consent of the Council.
“[While Senator Turnquest did not think it was
a good idea] the Council felt otherwise. I think it is fair to say that
if one wants to browse around the country, any part, any time; our present
leader is having a difficult time selling himself to the populace and indeed
energizing his own base has become a very difficult thing for him to do.
“[Choosing Mr. Turnquest as leader] did not turn
out the way we thought it would. The first suggestion of that was
that Mr. Turnquest with the support of the Cabinet hardly got 50 per cent
plus one per cent of the vote of the party’s 2001 leadership election.
After that, we were on the campaign trail and we continued to hear people
say, ‘Between Perry and Tommy, I prefer Perry.’ These were FNMs.”
Tennyson Wells, Independent MP and former challenger for FNM Leadership:
“The majority of the sitting members of the FNM, including the Member of
North Eleuthera (Alvin Smith, the present Leader of the Opposition), have
publicly stated that they no longer support the member for North Eleuthera
as leader of the Opposition. They voted to that effect on their national
council and it has been widely reported in the press.
“If this crisis is not resolved by the FNM’s
sitting members, the Governor General may have to exercise his judgment
made under article 82.4 of the Constitution and appoint some other person
maybe the Member for Lucaya (Neko Grant).
“In spite of the vote of confidence by the FNM
parliamentary group, the Member for North Abaco (former Prime Minister
Ingraham) has clearly demonstrated that he did not want the leadership
as he did not get the majority of the FNM council as he had hoped.
“They did not give him the kind of majority he
wanted in the FNM Council and the Member for North Abaco treated his FNM
parliamentary colleagues, the FNM Council, the system, this parliament
and the country with contempt.
“I can’t say that I blame him with respect to
some of his former Cabinet ministers and his FNM Parliamentary colleagues,
but to treat the FNM Council, the system, this parliament and the country
like that is downright uncalled for, disrespectful and contemptuous.
“It is clear that Mr. Smith has disavowed the
position of Leader of the Opposition. It is no longer a matter of
whether he has delivered his resignation letter to the Governor General.
It is a public fact that his parliamentary colleagues have publicly withdrawn
their support for him and there is no such thing as an acting leader of
the Opposition. There must be a substantive holder of the post of
Leader of the Opposition.
“It appears to be clear that neither the Member
for North Abaco nor the Member for North Eleuthera have been in touch with
the prime minister or the governor general or you Mr. Speaker.
“That is the political reality in the country
today. The members who voted for him to be their leader of the opposition
have now publicly stated that they want someone else – the Member for North
Abaco – who appears to be reluctant to take up the post. This is
serious…
“The official opposition of our country ought
to behave in a responsible manner. Members ought to behave in a responsible
manner. Members ought to behave and act in a principled manner and
not out of expedience.”
Pierre Dupuch, former FNM MP, now Independent:
“Prime Minister Christie has brought dignity and integrity back to the
office of Prime Minister…
“The public may be justified in saying that you
(Mr. Christie) make your decisions rather slowly, but the most important
thing is the dignity and integrity, character. People can believe
what you say. I stand here this morning, Mr. Speaker, and I have
seen this Parliament pulled down to the gutter.
“We hear on the radio with no contradiction that
the members of the FNM in this House have recalled their confidence in
the leader. We hear on the radio that the member of North Eleuthera
has appeared here this morning as the acting leader.
“I don’t know if it is through ignorance or complete
lack of respect for this office or the public, but I don’t know – maybe
I don’t understand – how a man can be deputy to himself. Although
the FNM Council has said that they have no faith in him (Alvin Smith),
he didn’t have the courtesy to submit his resignation.
“Just this morning it was denied in the press,
and I was waiting for the denial to come with something about an accommodation
to be made I understand accommodation to be a little bit of this stuff.
(Mr. Dupuch was rubbing his fingers together to indicate money was the
issue. There was report that Alvin Smith was stalling his resignation
until it could be worked out with Mr. Ingraham how the money Mr. Smith
lost in salary would be replaced.)
“But I want to know how anybody can fix their
face to come in here as an acting Leader of the Opposition when he has
been sworn in as the Leader of the Opposition. The public, not only
the thousands of decent FNM’s have been dragged down, the entire Bahamian
people, the Bahamian system, has been dragged down by these people.
And they say they want to lead this country?”
Brent Symonette, Chief of Opposition Business in the House:
“This is not a constitutional issue. It
is a private one for the FNM. We have no constitutional issue that
exists because the post of Leader of the Opposition is filled by the Member
for North Eleuthera and as such this motion should not have come before
you here today. Now what it is [for the MPs Tennyson Wells and Pierre
Dupuch], is clearly a political trick and a gimmick by using the constitution
because the constitution is very clear.”
Senator Tommy Turnquest, Leader of the FNM in an exclusive interview
with his Uncle-in-Law Oswald Brown in the Freeport News Thursday 6th October
2005:
“I am in this for the long haul. There is no question I am committed,
my focus is sharpened, my resolve is strong to move forward and to move
this party forward… I continue to enjoy tremendous support.
“There has to be a continued progression of generations,
moving forward, coming to the forefront. I can’t hold on to the reins,
when the younger generations come – better equipped, better trained, more
in tune with the vast majority of the people, who are young people.
“There are seasons that each of us are responsible
for, and if we don’t take that calling seriously, we not only put ourselves
and our organization in jeopardy but also our country.
“I firmly believe that I am focused, I am resolved
to continue and I am going into the upcoming convention – in less than
five weeks now – fortified and confident that I will come out victorious.
“[I have spoken with former PM Ingraham] he told
me he has no desire to return. I take him as a man of his word and
hence I am even more fortified in my resolve.
“Like everyone else I have strengths and weaknesses. I believe that
those persons who never accepted the fact that I could lead this party
and lead this country continued to put out propaganda and accentuate those
weaknesses, rather than accentuate my strengths. They never gave
the assistance that stalwarts of our party are mandated to do – to assist
me – so that my weaknesses are minimized.
“And the words that move me most came from my
mother. Although she did not want me to become a politician, she told me.
You are no quitter.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie:
“I have sympathy for the Member for North Eleuthera
(Alvin Smith) and my heart goes out to Tommy Turnquest. It is so
unnecessary, it is so immoral, and in fact, it is one of the greatest obscenities
that have happened in this country. It is sad and it is sickening.
Somewhere along the lines there has to be good order and decency in the
process. We have descended into one of the most disgraceful constitutional
periods in our process. The second generation leader is being challenged
and it is wrong.”
TANYA
McCARTNEY STEPS DOWN
And, as if the day did not go badly enough, Wednesday 5th October was the
day of the resignation of Senator Tanya McCartney from the Senate.
Senator McCartney says that her resignation will take effect on 30th October.
She is the second FNM Senator to resign this year. She said that
while the resignation had nothing to with the present crisis in the FNM,
she determined that sacrificing or compromising one’s reputation and integrity
“ought not to be a prerequisite for public service.” Huh? What
does that mean? Who was compromising her reputation and integrity
and what was being said or done that did so? No word!
Senator McCartney said that she will remain active
in the civic life of the country. But no doubt that was another body
blow for the Free National Movement on the day when the second coming of
Ingraham was to take place. So now three of the bright lights of
the FNM, the party’s future, have chosen to absent themselves; former Senator
Desmond Bannister, former Minister Zhivargo Laing, and now Senator McCartney.
Mr. Ingraham wants to finish off Senator Turnquest. All that leaves
is the Machiavellian Dion Foulkes and the mercurial Carl Bethel.
KOZENY ARRESTED
The notorious Victor Kozeny (pictured) who once
reportedly cussed out the former Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham
and failed to honour a commitment with regard to the development of a cay
in The Bahamas was locked up in the slammer on Thursday 6th October on
a provisional extradition warrant at the request of the United States.
It appears that a U.S. federal grand jury indicted
Mr. Kozeny and two others on charges that they tried to bribe senior government
officials in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. Mr. Kozeny
is alleged to have tried to get a share of the profits of the privatization
of SOCAR, the state oil company there.
Mr. Kozeny is a Bahamian resident but an Irish citizen,
although originally he is from the Czech Republic. Officials from
his native Czech Republic have also had their eyes on him for some time
but the U.S. has gotten theirs in first. He was remanded in custody
following a bail application. Bahama Journal photo
NASSAU
GUARDIAN UNREPENTANT
Last week, there was a detailed and measured and
accurate piece in this column about the state of the Nassau Guardian.
One could have written similar pieces about The Tribune but the Nassau
Guardian is the paper that is most closely associated with the masses of
the population and so they have a special responsibility to be accurate
and crisply run. People forgive the excesses of The Tribune, feeling
that they at the Tribune just can’t help themselves. Not so the Nassau
Guardian. One would have thought therefore that an apology and correction
would have been published for the patently false story that they ran (click
here for last week’s comment) about a one million dollar home for Tonique
Williams Darling, the athlete (see story
below).
Instead of apologizing for the false information
that started a national debate that brought the young athlete’s name into
unnecessary controversy and sullied politically the Government, they compounded
the error. They ran an editorial in which they said that the one
million dollar gift was not appropriate. They then had letters to
the editor which were based on their erroneous story running throughout
the week, without an editorial note that they had made an error.
The closest they got to any form of setting the record straight was an
interview that they published on Tuesday 4th October with Minister of Housing
Shane Gibson who simply confirmed what we had been saying all along that
the Nassau Guardian got it wrong.
Perhaps The Nassau Guardian and its publisher and
editor might take a page from the New York Times, certainly the best newspaper
in the world. The Times is so concerned about errors and about their
reputation in their country as the paper of record that they have now started
a column of corrections everyday which sets the record straight on errors
and incorrect statements of fact or opinion. They publicly explained
this last Sunday in the Sunday Times. They have gone further and
hired what they call a public editor whose responsibility is to be an advocate
for readers at the paper to ensure that the kind of thing that the Nassau
Guardian did does not occur.
One thing that The Times has of course that The
Nassau Guardian does not appear to have in The Bahamas is a public that
acts as if it cares about the truth. There is no commonality of interest
in knowing the truth; viz. the ability of demagogues and nitwit politicians
to get away with printing any nonsense and the public runs away with it
as if it were the truth. All the more reason though why people who
know better should do better. We once again appeal to Charles Carter,
the publisher of the Nassau Guardian.
THE
JOHN PINDER STORY
The Bahamas Public Service Union has re elected as its President John Pinder.
Mr. Pinder (pictured) has been a very public thorn in the side of The Bahamas
Government over the past year and particularly in the past three months
leading up to the campaign. His entire team won the highest number
of votes amongst the 6000 of the 20,000 public servants who are his members.
The election took place on Friday 30th September. Mr. Pinder campaigned
on the theme that he would be able to get an $1800 per year increase for
the public servants who have had a 24 percent increase in salary over the
last six years. Given the rise in oil prices this was a potent theme
that his opponent, former Secretary General Synida Gardiner and her team
did not successfully combat. The election was complicated by the
fact that there were two persons opposed to Mr. Pinder, both of whom were
former officers of the Union. Both went down in flames.
Last Sunday, the Minister for the Public Service
Fred Mitchell speaking at the annual church service to begin public service
week, congratulated Mr. Pinder but warned him not to confuse openness and
civility on the part of the Government for weakness.
Mr. Pinder's blustery style was in evidence again
on Wednesday 5th October when he joined the National Congress of Trade
Unions (NCTU) in Rawson Square, demanding the increase of $1800.
The Minister for the Public Service announced in the House that Mr. Pinder
had sat at the table with the Government’s negotiators and agreed to accept
a $1300 lump sum but this was turned back by his members.
It appears that Mr. Pinder and his Union colleagues
have a political agenda, their noisy demonstration of some 250 coming on
the same day that Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister was to take
over the leadership of the Free National Movement. Ministers including
the Public Service Minister spoke in the House to answer all of the issues
that have been raised by the Unions and all of them are on the way to being
settled. Nevertheless, this is an issue that must be watched very
carefully.
A memo from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry
of The Public Service leaked to the press revealed that those who cut work
to demonstrate will lose their pay for that day and will be subject to
disciplinary action for leaving their posts without authority. Bahama
Journal photo
RUMBLINGS
OVER TONIQUE DARLING
The Bahamas Government, after lawfully publishing
a notice and giving persons time to object, renamed Harrold Road as Tonique
Williams Darling Highway on Monday 3rd October. The ceremony was
led by the Prime Minister Perry Christie. Harrold Road was to the
best of anyone’s knowledge named after an obscure loyalist who came here
after the revolution in the United States who was granted the property
by the Crown. Tonique is perhaps the most accomplished Bahamian athlete
thus far; the only one to win individual gold medals [in the 400 metres]
at the 2004 Athens Olympics and at the 2005 World Track & Field Championships
in Helsinki, Finland. The Highway’s renaming came following its being
completely rebuilt as part of the New Providence Road Development Programme.
It is typical of states to name roads and highways
and buildings after persons who have been successful at the world level.
Somehow though, the renaming of this highway has brought some public criticism
although it appears none of it at the official level where the Minister
would have to take it into account in law. The talk shows and the
newspapers were full of indignation about a false report by the Nassau
Guardian that she would also get a one million dollar home. The callers
to the radio and writers to the press seemed less concerned about the fact
that she was being honoured but more about the scale at which someone who
is still in mid career should be honoured. Some expressed the view
that it should have come at the end of her career.
Anyway, it is done; and one recalls the dissension
over the naming of the gymnasium donated by the Taiwanese to The Bahamas
after Kendal Isaacs. No one could quite figure out how that politician
was connected to sports. That was done. So it appears there
will always be controversy. Tonique Williams Darling, however, basked
in the accolades of her fellow citizens as she led a tour of athletes throughout
the country. We congratulate her. Bahamas Information Services
photo: Peter Ramsay
POVERTY
SURVEY RELEASED
The Minister of Social Services and Community Development
Melanie Griffin announced that the Bahamas Living Conditions Survey is
now a public document. She laid it on the table of the House of Assembly
on Wednesday 5th October. The report is some four years old and so
the information though the first and latest of its kind for The Bahamas
is perhaps badly out of date already. In any event, it establishes
for the first time a poverty line.
In the year 2001, the poverty line in The Bahamas
is the level of $2,863 per year per person. This is the amount of
money needed to buy an adequate low cost diet with allowances for non food
needs in The Bahamas estimated at $7.84 per person per day, which when
annualized translates into the figure just below $3,000. There are
some 9.3 per cent of the people in the country who fell below that line
in 2001.
The Bahamas has committed itself to halving poverty
by the year 2015 in line with the millennium development goals. A
survey should be done every year to see how we are doing.
CULTURAL
FESTIVAL MARKS 10 YEARS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell announced
on Thursday 6th October that the International Cultural Committee will
host the tenth annual fair this year in the Botanic Gardens in Nassau from
Saturday 22nd October to Sunday 23rd October. The fair will feature
presentations of food, clothing and culture from all the various countries
that have nationals in The Bahamas. It was started in 1995 to mark the
50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. This year
the U.N. will mark the 60th anniversary of its founding on Sunday 23rd
October.
NURSES
IN FEAR
The Bahama Journal of Friday 7th October reports
that the nurses in The Bahamas are living in fear of their lives.
This was the sentiment expressed by Cleola Hamilton, the Head of the Nurses
Union about the state of security at the Rand Memorial in Freeport, the
Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau and Sandilands Hospital. Ms.
Hamilton reported that a nurse in PMH had been harassed and the Journal
added that a nurse was slapped by an angry member of the public.
We support the nurses called for increased security
at the hospital. While there have been additional steps taken to
improve the security at the hospital, The Bahamas and Bahamians do not
have
a systemic approach to security concerns and no doubt the system has become
slack since its implementation shortly after the murder in the private
ward of the hospital of Nurse Joan Lunn.
NATIONAL
HEROES
The Bahamas Government has tabled a National Honours
Bill and a National Heroes Bill. The Prime Minister said following
the first reading of the Bills on Wednesday 5th October that these were
the bills that had been promised by him after considerable consultation
with the public through the National Cultural Commission. This month
is National Heroes Month and there are those of us who want 12th October
changed to National Heroes Day. Let’s hope that the Government has
the courage to abolish the British honours and to change the name of so
called Discovery Day to National Heroes Day.
HAITIAN
BORN GG FOR CANADA
A Haitian born journalist has become Canada’s first
Black Governor General, representative of the Head of State of Canada Queen
Elizabeth II. She is Michelle Jean, 48, (pictured) and she was sworn
in on Tuesday 27th September in the Senate Chamber in Ottawa. The
post is for five years. The Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin told
Caricom Prime Ministers recently that he chose Ms. Jean as a symbol of
the changing face of Canada.
Canada is a country that has a negative birth rate
and needs immigration to continue the level of its population. Increasingly,
that immigration is coming from the Far East and the Caribbean instead
of Europe. It would be good if the new Canadian Governor General came to
The Bahamas on an official visit. AP photo from BBC News
BRUCE
SOUDER LEAVES CITY MARKETS
The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday 3rd October
that Bruce Souder, the long serving General Manager of the City Market
Supermarket Chain, owned by Bahamas Supermarkets Limited has left the company
and left unceremoniously. In the interim he has been replaced by
Mark Sellers, the Group Vice President for Winn Dixie, the Florida chain
of food stores that is now in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S.
Mr. Souder was in the news recently (you may click
here for the previous story) when he denied a report in the Bahamian
press that Winn Dixie had put Bahamas Supermarkets up for sale as part
of getting itself out of Chapter 11.
It is not known what the reason for Mr. Souder's
abrupt departure is but some are connecting it with the fate of another
former vendor of City Markets who is said to be serving a jail term in
the United States and possible conflicts of interest. Mr. Souder
had nothing to say but the newspaper reports that he picked up the Winn
Dixie investigative team from the airport and never returned to the company.
He reportedly informed his secretary by telephone that he was no longer
with the company.
POETRY FEATURE
This week, Giovanni invites us to open the creaking
iron gates for a foreboding foretaste entitled ‘End of Days’. Please
click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist, Giovanni.Stuart
(www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Sir Arthur To You
I take serious issue with the lack of respect
shown to Sir Arthur Foulkes in your recent editorial. I take note
that you referred throughout the article to the British civil servant (undoubtedly
a white man) as Sir Foley Newns, but sought to denigrate Sir Arthur by
saying “Sir Arthur to some”.
While I enjoy your weekly website – in fact,
I never miss it – there is no excuse for this kind of disrespect.
We all know the position of the people at BahamasUncensored.Com that national
honors ought to be instituted immediately. However, it is still the
case even now that the highest honor that this country can give is the
title of Sir. Criticize Sir Arthur if you must for his dalliances
in the realm of politics. I actually agree with you on this, but
give him the respect which he deserves as a Knight of the Realm!
Jocephus Moss
No disrespect was meant to Sir Arthur – Editor
Salute to Leslie Miller
I have to say that I have followed all your articles
on Minister Leslie Miller. Cut the man some slack! I happen
to think he is a good Minister and serves the PLP well. He should
be praised for sticking hard to his guns to try to get the best deal for
The Bahamas. He is getting a rough time particularly at a time when
his son was murdered and we don’t see any effort being made to resolve
the case. I think you ought to stay thank you to him. And don’t
forget, no matter what they say, all of us in Blue Hills love and support
this man.
Jason T. Weir
Certainly it was not the intention to say that Mr. Miller was not
a good Minister. Indeed he has a heart of gold and it is in the right
place. We find the murder of his son to be inexplicable and why the
delay is beyond belief and inexcusable – Editor
Pastors Not “Vex”
Your October
2nd edition referred to comments made by me, Allan Lee and Lyall Bethel
regarding the recent court matter of employees of The Butterfly Club.
Attached, please find our press conference
script which you might wish to make available for your readers in the
interest of giving them the whole truth.
Regarding the outcome of the case, we are
not "vex" that the strippers got off. We had and still have no desire
that those poor ladies from Russia be penalized. Instead they need
to be rescued and protected so that they will cease to be victims of commercial
sexual exploitation by their Russian "owner" and the other immoral operators
of The Butterfly Club. It is actually their "sexual slave masters",
the Russian "owner" and those operators of The Butterfly Club, who we are
saddened to see get off. We say this knowing full well that had those
men faced the maximum penalty our laws allow it would not have been sufficient,
which goes to show that those who make our laws take commercial sexual
exploitation lightly.
While I have no way of verifying it, I've
been told that prostitution does indeed take place at The Butterfly Club
and offsite...the strip/topless dancing offered is an “appetizer” for it.
And, yes, I have shared this information with the police.
Also, I've been advised that the Russian
strippers at The Butterfly Club range in age from 21 through 35 years old,
and I'm deeply saddened to know that these poor young women will leave
our country (according to the Department of Immigration, their permits
expire on October 8th, 2005) with their Russian “owner”, and be thrust
deeper into the horrific world of commercial sexual exploitation.
And Bahamas government issued work permits would have aided and abetted
their sexual exploitation and suffering wherever and however they progress
in the “sex industry” beyond our shores.
This should make all right thinking Bahamians
sad.
Cedric Moss
FOOTNOTES
TO HISTORY
Cassius Vida Stewart & Charlene Raquel Gray were married
on Saturday, 8th October at Christ Church Cathedral. Charlene is
the daughter of Minister V. Alfred Gray; Cassius the leader of the extra
parliamentary Bahamian Democratic Movement (BDM). Prime Minister
Christie, Lady Pindling, Ministers Roberts, Leslie Miller and Shane Gibson
were among those who attended. CDR CEO Bernard Nottage was also present.
Photo:
Peter Ramsay
Mr. Truman & Fredericka Butler have been wed in Austell,
Georgia. Mr. Butler is the son of former SIB officer and Superintendent
of Police and Mrs. Ralph Butler of Gleniston Gardens North. He is
also the nephew of Henry Wemyss, the Managing Director and President of
Wemco Securities. Held at St. John’s Catholic Church is Austell,
Georgia. The wedding was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell MP to the family of the groom.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also visited with Chief Superintendent
Marvin Dames and Mrs. Dames at the Yale University campus in New Haven
Connecticut on Tuesday 15th September. Mr. Dames is on a special
three-month world fellowship programme for leaders from around the world.
He returns to The Bahamas in December. Shown from left are Ed Bethel,
Bahamas Consul General in New York, Minister Mitchell and Superintendent
Dames.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
The United States Ambassador His Excellency John
Rood, centre, confers with Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and
Global AIDS Co-ordinator Ambassador Randall Tobias, right, at the opening
ceremony of the 4th Caribbean Regional Chiefs of Mission Conference on
HIV and AIDS on Monday, October 3, 2005 at the British Colonial Hilton.
BIS
Photo: Tim Aylen
Prime Minister Christie inspects the guard of honor, accompanied by
Commodore Davy Rolle, during a tour of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force
Base on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. BIS Photo: Tim Aylen
THE COUP COLLAPSES
Change and decay in all around I see;
Oh Thou, Who changest not, abide with me
--Anglican Hymn
Those
who thought that Senator Tommy Turnquest, the leader outside of the House
of Assembly for the Free National Movement was going to be a pushover had
a another thing coming. Senator Turnquest, who was perceived by many
as a weakling and a novice in politics, did what his mamma told him to
do. In a quote used last week this column she told him he was not
a quitter, and quit he did not. With his back to the wall, he virtually
had no choice but to stand up and be a man.
If you were sitting in his place two weeks ago, and as recently as last Sunday, the reports were dire. The bad rap was not coming from the expected quarter, the Progressive Liberal Party, but from his own Free National Movement. One of the party elders Frank Watson said that Tommy just didn’t get it (click here for that statement); that choosing him for leader was a mistake; that he did not connect with the people.
The first sign for the public that Tommy Turnquest was fighting back came in an article that appeared under the name of Candia Dames in the Bahama Journal on Monday 10th October. In it she listed from a press release from the FNM’s action group a host of wrongs that Hubert Ingraham had done. Mr. Ingraham who was slated to become the saviour of the FNM was attacked in a way that sounded almost like the Progressive Liberal Party would have written it.
Through it all Hubert Ingraham remained in the tall grass, peeping out from behind. He even arranged a high profile travel around with Senator Turnquest to show that the two were still bosom political buddies. But when the formal meeting was held during the past week, Tommy Turnquest made it clear to the group of Members of Parliament that he was going nowhere. In consequence of that Mr. Ingraham had to back down. He told the MPs that he would not accept their leadership choice for the House. In doing so, he bowed to the inevitable. The announcement was then made that Alvin Smith would remain the Leader of the Opposition. Carl Bethel, the Chairman of the FNM said that this matter would be revisited as soon as their convention was over this November.
Ken Russell, one of Mr. Ingraham's main instigators, was biting mad. The United Bahamian Party rump that is headed by the millionaire crew from the Eastern Road, were not hearing it. They continued throughout the week to put pressure on Mr. Ingraham to save their party. Mr. Ingraham’s allies are going around now saying that they intend to nominate him for the post of leader of the Free National Movement when the convention takes place in November, and then he expects to defeat Tommy; he will then take over the reins. They say that Mr. Ingraham is furious with the blistering attack on him by the Action Group as printed in The Journal. The group is thought to be controlled by Mr. Turnquest's forces.
Meanwhile, Dion Foulkes, the former Education Minister, who has very much been the also ran in this battle announced that he is in it for the long battle, and that he will run as Leader and that he too will win. Now boys, only one can win. It will be interesting to see after all this fighting, cutting and back stabbing, whether the Free National Movement will be able to mount a credible campaign to win over voters and make them the Government again.
Prime Minister Perry Christie has already said that the pension laws will be changed if Mr. Ingraham comes back. It is our view that if he runs for the position of Leader of the Opposition and wins again, he ought to be stripped of his pension rights as Prime Minister. He must be made to go to work again for a living. It is inexplicable that a man who has served two terms and almost ten years in office gets a full salary and a pension plus benefits. He collects almost $150,000 per year plus all the other perks including a car supplied by the state and a police detective everywhere that he goes. Why would he want to come back to lead a party and try to become Prime Minister in the face of the young PLP Backbench that has no fear, and worst of all no respect for him?
And now to top it all off, the PLP has a campaign set of slogans, which it can have for any leader that the FNM chooses. If it is Mr. Ingraham, they have the Action Group’s language, which blames Mr. Ingraham for the collapse of the financial services sector (click here for footnotes to history) amongst other things. If it is Mr. Turnquest, we have the former Deputy Prime Minister under the FNM saying that Mr. Turnquest does not connect with the Bahamian people. What a mess!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 15th October 2005 at midnight: 94,106.
Number of hits for the month of October ending Saturday
