Posted by Fred Mitchell, PLP Senator on August 28, 2001 at 09:50:00:
Excerpts from
THE WEB 26 August 2001
www.fredmitchelluncensored.com
By Fred Mitchell, PLP Senator
IN MEMORIAM OF SIR LYNDEN
It is hard to believe that one year has passed since the founding Prime Minister of the country Sir Lynden Pindling died. Sir Lynden passed away in the early hours of 26 August 2000 at his home in Skyline Drive. The nation was moved like never before. The pictures from those days and time have been carried on this site as they were carried during those days and times as a permanent record. We ask you to mark this occasion by revisiting all of the sites of that sad time. PLPs will gathered to remember Sir Lynden at Mt. Tabor Full Baptist Church in Kennedy Subdivision today. May he rest in peace.
LATE NEWS ON ALGERNON ALLEN
This site has learned that Algernon Allen, Minister for Housing and Social Development was to be dismissed at twelve noon today from the Cabinet of The Bahamas. This follows his address on Friday night 24 August at the R.M. Bailey Park. He said that the FNM's party machinery was corrupt and said that the whole Cabinet worked its will against him. In the circumstances it now appears (see story below) that Mr. Allen's real intention on Friday night was not to declare the way forward, but rather to say goodbye to his FNM colleagues by directly spitting in the Prime Minister's political face. The move, therefore, forced Mr. Ingraham to act to dismiss Mr. Allen who was up until now, the Leader of the Government's Business in the House. Mr. Allen was relaxed and at home as the news spread around Nassau. Friends say that he now intends to make overtures to the PLP, or propose a national coalition of Opposition interests to the Foulkes/Ingraham/Turnquest faction.
WHAT ALGERNON ALLEN HAD TO SAY
It was a long night. It was an usually pleasant night for August in Nassau - low heat and low humidity. Mr. Allen chose as the site of his rally on Friday 24 August - billed as a thank you rally - the R.M. Bailey Park that has special significance for FNMs. The gamble was could he draw the crowd? The vendors must have known something because they were out there early in the afternoon setting up their conch fritter stalls and jerk pits. Mr. Allen provided entertainment with Ronnie Butler and Sweet Emily. There were about two thousand people there at its height. There were armed policemen, Security and Intelligence Branch officers sprinkled liberally throughout the crowd. There was a sea of PLPs. There were Mr. Allen's close buddies and friends. All were curious as to what Mr. Allen was going to say. In the end he said nothing more than he had said before, except he now plainly says that the FNM party machinery was corrupt and corrupted the election. He said that Mr. Ingraham and the entire Cabinet conspired against him to defeat him. He said that after a lifetime of contributions to the FNM and the country, he felt he was as disposable as toilet paper. But he did not resign from the Cabinet, or from the FNM. He did not join the PLP nor did he say he would join Bernard Nottage's CDR, even though he said he felt the same pain of Dr. Nottage. He claimed that Dr. Nottage got rejected from the PLP in the same way that he (Mr. Allen) was being treated by the FNM. Mr. Allen took a long time to get to his point and by the end of the one and half-hour speech that started at 10:30 p.m. he had lost fully half of his audience. It was long and maudlin. It was overly emotional and too sentimental for politics. It was licking one's wounds in public. The crowd just kept drifting off. At the end, the best he could say was that he would be engaging in a listening tour across the country over the next three weeks, trying to form a consensus on what to do. There'll be plenty of listening because the 'dream team' of Tommy and Dion that defeated him are also embarking on a listening tour. The problem with this is that Mr. Allen will not be able to get another audience like Friday's audience again. You cannot take your supporters up to the line, then draw back. Further, the ball is now clearly in Mr. Ingraham's court. He cannot continue to have a Minister who attacks him from a public stage, refuses to attend Cabinet meetings. The House of Assembly meets on 5 September, just about a week from now. Mr. Allen is the Leader of Government business in the House. Now how pray tell, is this all going to work?
MR. ALLEN'S WIFE IS FURIOUS
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! The political talk is that Supreme Court Justice Anita Allen is furious with Mr. Allen's colleagues. Mr. Allen himself, the political observers say, only scratched the surface of the ire that he and his family feel over what their friends describe as scurrilous attacks by his colleagues in the FNM, led by the Prime Minister and supporters of the team of Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes. The distaff side has been acting as a praetorian guard and blessing each colleague with a few choice words by telephone. Friends say that Mr. Allen is never called to the telephone. One who was blessed was Janet Bostwick. And the talk is that C.A. Smith, the outgoing Minister of Transport who is headed for the political dung heap was asked why he was calling the house. Mr. Smith had apparently not called the house for weeks. Now after engaging in and helping the Dream Team and the scurrilous campaign, Mr. Smith was calling to renew acquaintances. No thank you was the polite reply! You know what they say, the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.
CALLING FOR THE SPEAKER'S HEAD
In the aftermath of Algernon Allen's Friday night rally, we have also learned that Prime Minister Ingraham intends to move against the Speaker of the House of Assembly Ms. Italia Johnson who, up to now, Mr. Ingraham was boasting of as the first female Speaker in the history of The Bahamas. Our understanding is that Mr. Ingraham intends to ask the speaker to resign or face a vote of no confidence in the House of Assembly when it convenes on 5 September for having appeared on the platform as a speaker at Mr. Allen's rally. We would advise the PLP to oppose any such vote of no confidence and the Speaker should not resign. We believe in the Constitution and notwithstanding her behaviour, the Constitution builds in protection for the Speaker so that she can be independent and we will not support her being bullied out of office. The Constitution gives the Speaker a protected position. She cannot be moved by the mere whim of a majority once she has been chosen. She continues in the position until after the dissolution of Parliament for a General Election until the House of Assembly first meets after that General Election. The only way she can leave office is by voluntary resignation. Those who wish to check can see article 50 (2) of the Constitution. Mr. Ingraham has no right to call at this stage for the Speaker's political head, having not done so when he allowed her to nominate Mr. Allen for FNM leader-designate in the first place. It is outright bullying and we cannot support it. These are interesting events. Clearly there is no unity in the FNM. The dollhouse has all broken up.
TOMMY TURNQUEST CALLS FOR UNITY
There they all were, the leaders-designate of the Free National Movement. They were in the Rev. Dr. Simeon Hall's New Covenant Baptist Church, thanking God on Sunday 19 August, that day that will live in infamy. They are now in the process of shedding the leader that they stole from the PLP and are putting in place second generation FNMs in power, who are in fact surrogates for the defunct United Bahamian Party. Mr. Turnquest spoke. The Prime Minister whose anniversary in power it was had had a hard night at the Fish Fry the night before and maybe that was the reason he could not make it. The wives were there. Their noses all powdered and pretty. It was a pretty picture. Loveable! Adorable! Except that something was wrong. We give you a hint. Mr. Turnquest out of his own mouth said this about the FNM in it's now state: [The party] must be unified undivided, harmonious and indivisible". Interesting comment. Missing from the service were those fellows whom he said had called him to congratulate him on his victory, namely Algernon Allen and Tennyson Wells. Clearly then the FNM is not unified or harmonious. Could that be the reason he was on the telephone begging and pleading for Mr. Allen not to go?
TOMMY NOT THERE YET… BUT CABINET DEALS
Even as they live on the fruits of a stolen election, the so-called 'dream team' Dion Foulkes and Tommy Turnquest the deputy leader-designate and leader-designate respectively of the FNM were busy doling out Cabinet appointments. The FNM is very much a family business you know. The first major appointment we gather is that Carl Bethel, now the Attorney General is to become the Minister of Finance under a Tommy Turnquest administration. Mr. Bethel is the brother in law of Dion Foulkes. God help the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. We'll be broke in a week. Then we have heard that Jaunianne Dorsett who has been languishing in silence on the backbenches of the FNM under Mr. Ingraham is to be made Minister of Housing. So even as Tommy Turnquest is pleading with Algernon Allen not to go, they are busy giving his Ministry to someone else. Mrs. Dorsett will be the opponent of this Senator in the upcoming election. She has been lousiest FNM representative of all time. And until recently had not a word to say about anything or anyone. We wondered why she was sticking up under the Turnquest/Foulkes faction. That's because they plan to stack the deck in her favour so that she can win the Fox Hill constituency. This is from the same pair, one of whom claims to be a friend, but who for political purposes will stab me in the back for a representative who has been a disgrace to the Fox Hill constituency and the good people of that constituency.
Their backstabbing won't work.
SINGER AALIYAH DIES IN ABACO CRASH
The singer Aaliyah and eight other members of her party have been killed in airplane crash in Abaco. The U.S. charter flight on which they were passengers crashed shortly after leaving Marsh Harbour, Abaco. Marsh Harbour has a short and difficult runway. The plane was thought to be a 402 Cessna. Early reports say that the aircraft couldn't make it into the air because it was too heavy with equipment from a filming that the flying party had been doing in Abaco. Other early eyewitness reports say that the plane seemed to have "lost power from one engine". There were nine people on board. All perished. This is very sad.
UPDATE ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS DISPUTE
This Senator updated the public this week on the air traffic controller's dispute. The case is headed toward the Privy Council. On Wednesday 15 August Acting President of the Court of Appeal Burton Hall gave conditional leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal made on 25 July. The Government is opposing the granting of leave on the ground that the appeal does not raise points of public importance. Because the matter raises constitutional issues, we will argue that there is no need to meet that test. The air traffic controllers are still not back at their posts. The statement reveals that the Government has spent over a million dollars fighting the air traffic controllers. They are not serious about settling the dispute. You can click here for the full details of the statement.
JANET'S RESIGNATION IS ALREADY PREPARED
Even though Hubert Ingraham, the lame duck Prime Minister said that he would consult Perry Christie the Leader of the Opposition on who will become the Governor General, it appears that Mr. Ingraham is going ahead without keeping the promise. You know that Tommy (the leader-designate of the FNM) has a father in Government House who has promised to demit office on 31 October. We have learned that it is now the plan definitively for Janet Bostwick to be named the Governor General on 1 November to succeed Orville Turnquest. This appointment would be inappropriate since she is a politically divisive figure and further no appointment of a Governor General should be done until after the next General Election. That appointment should be left to the next Prime Minister and Cabinet. In the normal course of things that Prime Minister will be Perry Christie not Tommy Turnquest. Mr. Ingraham wants to pre-empt Mr. Christie's choice and also lay claim to a legacy that he made a woman Governor General for the first time in the history of the country. We have learned that Janet Bostwick has already prepared her letter of resignation for the Speaker of the House effective the day that Sir Orville demits office. The Bahama Journal also reported the resignation is soon to come in its Friday 24 August edition. We have also learned that Mr. Ingraham plans to offer the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, now held by Mrs. Bostwick to Joshua Sears, the now Ambassador who is retiring from the public service to run as an FNM candidate for Exuma. This after a lifetime as a PLP. Not so fast lame duck Prime Minister!
REPLY TO JULIAN LOCKHART OF THE TRIB
Julian Lockhart has it all wrong. He wrote a piece on Thursday 23 August in The Tribune in which he accuses this Senator of denigrating or degrading the performances of the athletes who performed at the recent World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. He based his column on last week's story on the money being pushed at the athletes. Let's be clear that there is no argument with the athletes. We are especially happy now that Frank Rutherford has been properly recognized and compensated for his breaking the barriers of track medals for The Bahamas in the Olympics. I have met all of the athletes, with the exception of the most recent male winners. They know my personal views about sports and their contribution to The Bahamas. They are entitled to what they get. What we repeat is that the FNM is trying to buy the votes of the athletes and their families by offering money in such large amounts at this time. I do not think that it will work, but I repeat that the FNM has no genuine interest in sports. Remember Mr. Lockhart, how the FNM fired Frank Rutherford and Pauline Davis Thompson, shortly after they came to power. The FNM thought that Sir Lynden was wasting the public money for giving those two jobs, which allowed them to train in the United States. What you ought to be checking, Mr. Lockhart is whether the Prime Minister has fulfilled his promise of crown land to the Golden Girls. My information is that he has not. The FNM is the worst form of ad hocracy. They just make up sports policy, as it is politically expedient to do so. And they are doing it without designing a sports policy that is rational and comprehensive. It is unfortunate that Mr. Lockhart seeks to pollute the issue by saying that this Senator is involved in denigrating the athletes. He says that I am using them for political purposes. Mr. Lockhart should know that all decisions in this country that have to do with the spending of public monies are political decisions. He certainly does not think that Hubert Ingraham was seen in a picture grinning up with Avard Moncur on slack. Mr. Ingraham was trying to gain popularity and votes by basking in the accomplishments of Mr. Moncur. Certainly, Mr. Ingraham has none to boast about so he has to use the ones of Mr. Moncur. Further, if the acts of the Government were not political, why wasn't the Leader of the Opposition or our Spokesperson on Sports Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt invited to participate in the presentations? No sign of anyone from the Opposition. It was done without regard to us. So Mr. Lockhart ought to think carefully before attacking me. We have more to agree on than we disagree.
CONTROVERSY OVER PINDLING NOTE
The Central Bank of The Bahamas issued a note with the image of Sir Lynden O. Pindling on its one-dollar bill. The problem is that the bank used the photograph of Sir Lynden without the permission of the photographer who owns the copyright. Antoine Ferrier and his colleagues from the Association of Photographers are furious. Mr. Ferrier and the Bank both said that their lawyers are in negotiations to settle the matter. Andrew Allen, son of Finance Minister William Allen, represents Mr. Ferrier. Rochelle Deleveaux represents the Central Bank. The photographers say that the Government passed new copyright laws to protect against infringement of just this type and now they are a major violator of the right. The Central Bank said that they thought that they had the permission of the person who owned the copyright. Person should note the following, when professional photographers take your pictures, like wedding pictures or portraits; the copyright in the images resides in the photographer unless you specifically ask for the purchase of the negatives. Be forewarned.
BATELCO BLOCKS CHEAP PHONE CARD
BaTelCo has blocked those who were buying the Blackstone calling card in Nassau. BaTelCo claims that the 800 number assigned to Blackstone is actually an ATT, Sprint, MCI number that was being traded by ATT to Blackstone for a purpose that was not intended. They have now blocked the number. This is lousy on BaTelCo's part. BaTelCo is charging 99 cents per minute for its cheapest call into the States, Miami. Blackstone charges 27 cents. That's all the public cares about. BaTelCo should stop being a stick in the mud.
ZHIVARGO LAING AND GOBBLEYGOOK
One time in this column the Minister of Economic Development aka the Minister of Uneconomic Development, Zhivargo Laing was described as an economist. That brought howls of protest from his contemporaries who are readers to this column. So every statement that he makes now is examined to try and shore up that description. But, we have to tell you, life is difficult. Now comes the Minister's statement fresh from a visit to Switzerland to deal with the accession of The Bahamas to the World Trade Organization. While he was gone, this Senator led a debate on FTAA (click here for the address). Mr. Laing made the startling statement that FTAA will not affect sovereignty. Said Mr. Laing: "As a nation we choose sovereignly to use the tools of globalization to keep us connected to the world for our benefit." He is getting more poetic than Algernon Allen. Unfortunately poetry is not what we need. We need realspeak. This week, the IMF's annual review revealed that the Government is about to begin a study on how to wean us off customs duties and implement value added or sales tax on goods. That is part of the preparation for WTO and FTAA. Guess what, we had to find out from the IMF, not from our own Government Minister. The Minister ought to stop baffling us with his words and explain something more mundane. Sir 'Sonny' Ramphal, the head of the regional negotiating machinery for the FTAA in the Caribbean has shut down all travel and is about to lay off staff in the United Kingdom because the Caribbean countries have not paid their bills to keep the thing going. Some $700,000 is owed. Is The Bahamas one such country and what is The Bahamas' position on the point?
No Sharks
The Grand Bahama community has been captivated by the close incidents of shark attacks in waters around the island recently. Discussion of any water-borne activity is now interspersed with references to sharks. Newspapers headlines about the recent annual Bahamas Air Sea Rescue ocean marathon swim read 'No Sharks At BASRA'. Even the Ministry of Tourism got into the act, issuing a statement saying that no impact on tourism was expected from negative international press coverage of the shark attacks. We hope this is not wishful thinking.