“A threat to justice anywhere is s threat to justice everywhere” – Martin Luther King Jr.

It now appears that in order to expose corruption in a government by a particular party, you must first win the government and then look back at whom you wish to prosecute but the key is timing.

You do not come into power and let the ‘chips fall where they may’ as you carry out your campaign against corruption or any other wrongdoing, no this act must be carried out at the most opportune time; say for instance when you yourself have been accused of corrupt practice and must now deflect and distract from your malfeasance, this is when you pull your ace from up your sleeve.

“BEC bribe scandal firm, wrote to the PM – Court hears of letters to Watson and Ingraham” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “A jury heard yesterday that a French company was determined enough to outbid its Korean rival in obtaining a multi-million dollar project from the Bahamas Electricity Cooperation that it attempted to make contact with then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and then Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson.

The company wanted officials to reconsider the bid it knew was going to be rejected.

American Mark Smith was continuing his testimony that began on Tuesday concerning his role in an Alston SA/BEC bribery scheme to win the New Providence Expansion Phase Three contract with BEC.

Smith testified that Alstom wrote to BEC executives, querying about the integrity of the evaluation process and a reconsideration of their proposal.

A response had been given by Patrick Hanna BEC’s assistant general manager in December 2000, that the company’s communications were not only inappropriate but were also on breach of the terms of the bidding process where they risked their bid being rejected outright.

Smith has received immunity from the prosecution notwithstanding this admission that he accepted a cut of hundreds of thousands of dollars to relay to Alstom SA information gathered by an insider to the tendering process that would bolster the French firm’s chances at winning he contract bid over is Korean rival, Hanjung.”

So the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has ‘dropped the bomb’ on the Free National Movement (FNM), exposing corruption within its ranks as they themselves have been criticized internationally for being corrupt; great plan if you were a government preaching to a set of people that would ‘fall on their swords’ to protect certain political figures, those days have passed with the new electorate following the mantra “let the chips fall where they may.”

The current electorate is wondering, are we really looking to move forward as a nation and one day be able to root out corruption and hold public officials accountable as has been done in the Flint, Michigan or will we continue to pay lip service to the people about rooting out corruption while doing nothing and only using it when it becomes convenient against our political allies?  Will we ever mature to the point where we would allow for the removal of members of parliament who for instances have hidden critical information from their constituents and the country at large in order to save their jobs?  Will we ever reach the point where in this sword we are willing to fall on is double sided and swings both ways in protection of people of the country, who seem to be the ones to lose out in these cases of corrupt practices by elected officials?

“While there is room for differences of opinion over the root-causes of corruption and the prevalence of corrupt practices from country to country—and perhaps from region to region—there is, I would submit, virtually universal agreement that corruption in its various forms poses a formidable challenge to governments everywhere, and that international, regional and national anti-corruption initiatives need to be strengthened to combat this scourge.

Although corruption is a menace for developed and developing countries alike, it is particularly relevant for small island developing states where corruption is not infrequently linked with national development. However that may be, there is no denying that systemic corruption—whether it be high-level political corruption, lack of financial transparency, or petty bribery among public officials and law enforcement personnel—undermines good governance and the rule of law; accelerates moral decay; fosters negative international perceptions of the country; stymies foreign investment; impedes the delivery of public services; exacerbates poverty; and, in the final analysis, retards social and economic development.

Remarks by the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie at UCCI Anti-Corruption Conference in Cayman Islands

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is within their nature.

END