“PLP’s react to Mitchell’s admission” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Former Progressive Liberal (PLP) Cabinet minister George Smith yesterday expressed surprise and disappointed with PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell’s admission on Monday night that the party knew ahead of the May 2017 election the PLP would lose.

Smith, who, along with a small fraction of PLP’s, encouraged the party to consider new leadership ahead of the election, questioned why, if Mitchell and others knew this, nothing was done to correct it.

“I am surprised and disappointed that my very esteemed chairman has taken so long to come to a conclusion when all the signs were pointing there, and we seemed not to have taken the steps necessary to correct the impression that we were going to lose,’ he said.”

So it would seem that Senator Mitchell had some insight as to the direction that the election would take and is finally having a “come to the cross moment” over it because while some of Mitchell’s colleagues express “disappointment” at these remarks, some of us express shock and wonderment because these remakes seem to contradict sentiments expressed by Mr. Mitchell shortly following the general election wherein the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) express with great brackishness his opinion the Free National Movement’s (FNM) electoral win; as a person quite taken aback and in a state of shock at the lost.

“I [Fred Mitchell] have read a lot of rubbish over the past few days since the election from the FNM leadership and its supporters.

His take that, IN quote, “The FNM and its supporters should not believe their own propaganda’. End quote.

Mitchell went on to call on PLP’s to not accept the propaganda the FNM is telling them about themselves.”

He went on to call names, ‘Eileen Carron, Louis Bacon, Fred Smith, Sarkis Izmirlian’, describing them as ‘the rich now in charge’, and the start of the ‘fight’ now against the rich and powerful monied interests.  The rats are guarding the cheese’, Mitchell warned those in the PLP camp, that ‘The road will be difficult because these people in the FNM are especially vicious and vindictive.  They have no moral or ethical underpinnings which will prevent them from doing anything that they can get away with.  That is the reality.”

No Senator Mitchell, “the road will be difficult because” of persons such as yourself that seem to have become addicted to power and would even prostitute your ‘morals’ for it; but these are hardly the words of one that foresaw his own demise but rather the words of one simply unable to accept his demise and now only speaking out only in a desperate attempt to remain relevant, at any cost; even personal embarrassment.

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“PM’s CJ remarks were ‘nonsense’ – Parker says Minnis lacks firm grasp of constitution” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has a ‘tremendous misapprehension’ of the constitutional provisions which relate to the appointment of a chief justice and does not appear to have a ‘firm grasp’ of the constitution as a whole, Bahamas Bar Association President (BBA) Kahlil Parker charged yesterday.

Parker was responding to comments the prime minister made at a press conference on Sunday.

Minnis said the appointment of a substantive chief justice is not as important to him as dealing with the growing labor unrest at Bahamas Power and Light (BPL).

Minnis also said the constitution provides a ‘certain timeframe’ for him to appoint a chief justice, and claimed he is within that timeframe.

Senor Justice Stephen Isaacs has been acting for four months.”

First to the constitution for clarification on this matter; “Article 94 (1) states, “The chief justice shall be appointed by the governor general by instruments under the public seal on the recommendation of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition.”

“Article 95 (1) states, “If the office of chief justice is vacant or if the chief justice is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, then, until a person is appointed to that office and assumed those functions, they shall be performed by such other person, qualified under paragraph (3) Article 94 of this Constitution for appointment as a justice, as the governor general, acting in accordance with the advice of the prime minister may appoint for that purpose by instrument under the public seal.”

Now if you want to accuse the prime minister of not being more proactive in filling the Chief Justice position that is one thing but to mislead intentionally or unintentionally by accusing the prime minister of lacking [a] “firm grasp of [the] constitution” is an entirely different matter and if you would want to make such an accusation then you would have to prove where the prime minister has violated the constitution by not naming a chief justice to date because the onus in now on you to make this case; you either make your case or simply be up front and truthful about the real reasons behind your criticisms, because it would appear as per the constitution that as long as a qualified person is in the position of chief justice they can remain their indefinably, theoretically, unless the complaint is that the person is not qualified to be there or they have stated that they do not want the responsibility of this position; none of which I feel in the case here.

When it comes to the naming of a Chief Justice and all of the ‘hoop-la’ some of us wish to create over it, we must then realize that we, the people, are partly the blame for what we criticize the prime minister for, as many of us have advocated that certain positions in government be moved from appointments and to be positions wherein one is elected by the people; the Chief Justice position being one of these positions, by  doing this we move the ‘power; away from this prime minister and any future prime minister.

So while some wish to complain about the time that is being spent to appoint a substantive Chief Justice and go on to accuse others of lacking a firm grasp of the constitution while they themselves seem to be confused about the constitutional provisions as it relates to the appointment of a chief justice, why can’t these very persons use their limited influence to  push for a change of the system as we move to be more progressive?

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“We won’t be bullied by unions – Minister insist blackout threats won’t be tolerated” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister yesterday said that neither the government, nor the public, would tolerate blackout threats from unions at Bahamas Power and Light as the company plans to offer voluntary separation packages to workers in a ‘rightsizing’ exercise.

‘Bahamians are not going to put up with any long, hot summer, and we’re not going to,’ Mr. Bannister said. ‘I don’t know where it came from but the Bahamian people will stand up for their right to have basic amenities in their life, one of those which is electricity.”

Unions representing workers at BPL had threatened it would be ‘a long hot summer’ as they fumed over planned job cuts.  On Friday, Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard said lack of government intervention over the problem could see the Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis return from a trip to England to a country in darkness.”

First let me interject this for clarification and reference; “Domestic terrorism [definition];  – Commonly involves acts of violence or intimidation by citizens or permanent residents of a nations against the general public or property within that nation with the intention instilling fear in order to further political, social, or ideological objectives.”

There is a basic tenant when dealing with terrorist and this is not to negotiate with them and what the union has threatened is tantamount to domestic terrorism [see definition above] and should not be tolerated and treated as such,  so I agree with the statement of “We [the government] won’t be bullied by unions”, as the citizens that such threats would affect should not either, and  I ask this union did they really believe that it was a good idea/plan to threaten the entire country with a “long hot summer” in order to garner support from same said public? 

This position would be absurd, at the very least.

An act of “domestic terrorism” is basically what this union is threatening at this moment, it is wrong and probably illegal and the minister is quite right not to acquiesce to such nonsense because stripped down to its basic form it is just that – complete and utter nonsense.

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“WARPATH – BPL union doubles down threaten PM” – The Nassau Guardian

Except from this article; “Leaders of the managerial and line staff unions at Bahamas Power and light (BPL) yesterday demanded the government intervene regarding BPL’s plans to reduce the staff complement, warning that failure to act would result in Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis returning home in darkness.

‘You are not going to be riding around in your Range Rovers to Buckingham Palace to have tea and crumpets, right, and the people are getting put out to pasture.’ Said Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard at Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union headquarters at Farrington Road.

‘The prime minister is supposed to come back on Sunday.

Well, he may land in darkness.”

Let me first say that these threats by the union chief seem oddly reminiscent of past threats by another union boss wherein he had threatened to turn New Providence into a “Little Egypt”; at this time 2010-2011 the city of Egypt was experiencing extreme internal turmoil where a large number of that population demonstrated against poverty, corruption and political oppression; the question is exactly does Paul Maynard wish to achieve with these threats?

Mr. Maynard says “….a failure to act would result in Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis returning from London, England to meet New Providence in darkness.”, let me first ask the union boss is he not even considering a sit down with the prime minister after the prime minister returns before he carries out his threat of holding the people of The Bahamas hostage for services that they will still be billed for?

As the prime minister’s plane approaches the Sir. Lynden Pindling International Airport from the north to line up with the runways, the prime minister should easily be able to identify his home in this ‘darkness’ that is being ‘warned’ of, due to the fact that he has generators; my point is this and is very simple, Mr. Maynard and his cohorts, who probably also have generators also, will only be hurting and probably fall out of favor with the very same persons whose interests they claim to represent or be protecting – this tactic is an old one and has long been played out for one simple fact – because you cannot disenfranchise the very people with whom you wish to gain favor, it does not work that way in The Bahamas anymore.

It would be considered heartless not to empathize with the people being made redundant by this move to an automated system by BPL and I personally would rather deal with an actual human being while making enquires at the cooperation but it would seem that the company is progressing and making the necessary adjustments but the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union would have you believe that persons are just being thrown out onto the streets without any further consideration and this is representative of the truth as “BPL’s CEO Whitney Heastie advised, that BPL intends to offer employees ‘attractive’ voluntary severance packages (VSEP’s) and no employee will be forced out.”  

So as union boss Paul Maynard rants about the ramifications of the right sizing of the cooperation he is not be honest with the people of the country and with those that he represents when he intimates that persons will be put onto the streets and let to ‘die’ and this in verified in the story “BPL moving forward with ‘rightsizing’ despite threats” and make no mistakes these are threats that border on acts of terrorism.

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“Ministers vow poll won’t alter agenda – No ‘instant fixes’ for position govt. inherited from PLP” – The Tribune 13^th April 2018

Excerpt from this article; “ACTING Prime Minister Peter Turnquest admitted yesterday the government’s communications with the public have sometimes missed the mark and says it plans to ramp up it public relations efforts soon.

His statement came after poll results by marketing and research firm Public Domain showed fewer than 50 per cent of Bahamians say they are generally satisfied with the performance of the government.

Mr. Turnquest said the results did not make him ‘feel badly’, nor would they disrupt or prompt it to change course.

In a few years, he said, hopefully Bahamians will look back at this period and characterize it as a rebuilding phase.”

First, at this time I would like to issues a challenge to anyone, and I do mean anyone, who wishes to contradict the government’s current position of ‘no quick fix’ to counter this statement’ position with a ‘quick fix’ which would stabilize the economy and turn it around; if this has not already been done.

The government’s real problem, as per their own admission, is one of the lack of communication to the people that have elected them to these positions and this is a very serious problem because even if you are doing ‘great works’ and ‘moving mountains’ on the peoples behalf, the people would like to know what are these ‘great works’ and exactly why did you move that mountain that has been there since “King Hatchet was a Hammer”.

It is well known that in the world of politics that you must always keep people informed as to what you are doing because most will not go out and seek the information and will then tend to accept the first explanation that they get, no matter from whom or how erroneous.

It should be seen as commendable and courageous for the government to not mind the noise in the market and to stick to their beliefs if they fervently believe that they are for the betterment of the country, even in times when others around them do not see the vision and therefore, this position has brought you nothing more than grief but the only way to bridge this gap between your vision and what the people are experiencing is for  the Free National Movement (FNM) government to inform the people of its ‘great works’ because if they don’t then it goes against the very basic principles of transparency and accountability and if they are a government that wishes not to adhere to these two axiomatic principles, then they will go the way of the governments before you that thought that they did not have to be accountable and transparent with the people of the country.

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What I find utterly amazing is the fact that the official opposition, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), along with its supporters would now seek to take the words of truth spoken by a member of the Minnis administration and spin them for political gain; when in all actuality they are nothing more than a symbol of freedom of speech, a cornerstone of true democracy – apparently something not known or frowned upon in the halls of the PLP, both as a government and a political entity.

“Govt. losing creditability’ – McAlpine hits out over Oban deal” – The Nassau Guardian – 04.06.2018
“Charging that the Minnis administration appears to be in a desperate state for investment, Pineridge MP Fredrick McAlpine said yesterday that the government is losing credibility with voters over its performance, particularly its handling of the Oban Energies deal.
McAlpine urged Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis to listen to the people before it is too late.
‘The reality is we are losing creditability with voters based on our performance thus far,’ he said when called for comment.
‘That’s rough and maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but that’s the God’s honest truth.’
‘We are losing creditability with our supporters and the Bahamian people based on our performance. However we have an opportunity to fix it.”
Indeed, with free speech comes consequences and responsibilities and I am sure that the Free National Movement (FNM) member of parliament for Pineridge is fully willing to accept these consequences and responsibilities for these words and action in this instant as he seeks to represent the people who elected him to office.
With this being said, I would strongly caution the opposition for picking up this issue in the manner in which they did because it would be best for them to first be very mindful of the lack of democracy and freedom of speech within their very own political organization when a certain member of parliament thought it in the best interest of keeping his job to not represent the best interest of the persons who had trusted him enough to elect him as their member of parliament.
It is utterly amazing that they would attempt to have done this while also attempting to persuade their supporters and others that they offered an open and transparent political organization but would not allow one of their own to speak up in the best interest of the people that elected him to power and now seek to criticize one on side opposite for doing exactly this.
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While I fully support Dr. Hubert Minnis as prime minister and as the leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), I implore him to understand that he cannot reasonably continue to send the message that the government; this or any government, will be “open and transparent” only when it is convenient for them. This is the easiest and quickest way to lose credibility and to diminish your political capital.
While the Oban issue seems to be dying down; the issue of the prime minister signing a heads of agreement, ceremonial or not with so little information being offered to the people of the country we now have this being followed by the dismissal of the chairman of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC), Reese Chipman; member of parliament for Centerville and Farm Road as chairman of that corporation.

“PM: I was right to sack Chipman – But Minnis won’t actually say why he swung the ax” – The Nassau Guardian; March 27, 2018.
Excerpt from this article; “While telling reporters he will not reveal some of the details surrounding Centerville MP Reese Chipman’s firing as chairman from a government corporation, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said he did what was ‘right’.
This decision he said will not hurt his relationship with Mr. Chipman who was on Saturday [24th March 2018] fired by the prime minister as chairman of the Antiquities Monuments and Museums Corporation.
‘I do what I think is right,’ Dr, Minnis said yesterday. ‘You voted for me to do a job. I told the Bahamian people that if there is any undoing or what I consider against our policies in either party be it the Progressive Liberal Party or Free National Movement, then we will deal with it appropriately. We (are) dealing with society.”
While the prime minister suggests here that he has given ‘some details surrounding’ the termination of Mr. Chipman from the corporation, the truth is that to date and to my knowledge, no details have been given by the prime minister or his office as it relates to the details surrounding this issue. This one point then makes the entire firing ‘ripe’ for supposition and speculation by those that wish to create discord within the government for many reason but the main one being that it would seem to contradict the campaign promise of “an open and transparent government”, this has a lot of people who wish well of this prime minister and this government somewhat concerned as they see the present prime minister following in the footsteps of his predecessor; the “Hon.” Perry Christie.
Yes indeed, we did vote for you to do a job and in doing so you promised to set a new standard; which should have been the norm and which it seems that you presently have been attempting to do but you cannot not without telling the people that you work for as to why do did what you did. The prime minister say that this firing will not hurt his relationship with Mr. Chipman but will the lack of information to the public, as to what brought about this action hurt his credibility with his supporters?
I will close as I opened, while I fully support Dr. Hubert Minnis as prime minister and leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), I implore him to understand that he cannot reasonably continue to send the message that the government will be “open and transparent” only when it is convenient for them; we had a government that tried this and we can see what happened to them
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