Posted by bahamian student abroad on May 06, 2002 at 14:06:57:
In Reply to: Re: Editorial from The Bahama Journal says it all posted by FNM no more, once burned on May 06, 2002 at 14:03:23:
Firstly, Congratulations are in top order for our new Prime Minister and a giant of a man, the Rt. Hon. Perry
Gladstone Christie. Prime Minister Christie should be highly commended for a job well done in resurrecting the
P.L.P. and running a clean campaign in the process. Many P.L.P.’s (i.e. Dr. Bernard Nottage) and many F.N.M.’s
(i.e. Mr. Tommy Turnquest) doubted this mans ability to lead the P.L.P. to victory in his first attempt as leader of the
party. However, the power of God through the voice of the people informed Prime Minister Christie’s doubters that
their assessments of him were drastically wrong (i.e. Dr. Bernard Nottage again). Moreover, when you now talk
about the best Bahamian politicians ever (i.e. Sir. Lynden Pindling and Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham), like it or not, you
must now mention the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie. Getting elected to parliament in six consecutive elections is no easy
feat. Only one politician in Bahamian history has surpassed that, and only one has equaled that and they are Sir.
Lynden Pindling and Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham respectively. Finally, I do pray that God guide Prime Minister
Christie and allows him to excel in his new position to the benefit of the entire Bahamas.
Now, to the real stuff: I must say that I am really enjoying all this crying and sour grapes from the supporters of that
poor excuse for a political party known as the F.N.M. Instead of crying, they should really go and assist their party in
the process of finding someone fit and capable of digging their party out of its political grave (And they should know
by now Tommy Turnquest is not the answer). Moreover, I am still waiting for the “brain drain” F.N.M. party to
produce someone from their rankings who can actually lead them to a general election victory because the fact that
Sir Cecil Wallace had to look outside of his party and import a P.L.P. to lead the F.N.M. did not say much for the
party as a whole.
In my opinion, there were several reasons as to why the F.N.M. lost the government after two terms (man, they
mess up quickly hey). Firstly, they claimed that they were dealing with issues and the P.L.P. was mudslinging when
the fact of the matter is that the F.N.M. led by Mr. Tommy Turnquest did the majority of the mudslinging. Just take
a look at that rhetorical piece of crap they published stating 51 reasons to fear the P.L.P. They question I ask the
F.N.M. supporters, was the publishing of this imbecilic document reflective of their claim that they were sticking to
issues? Also, I suppose that the F.N.M. supporters think that Mr. Turnquest’s reference to the Hon. Paul L.
Adderley, the best legislative lawyer in the country today, as being “old and washed up” and by saying that “he only
wanted to get his grubby hands on power again” is sticking to the issues.
The F.N.M. government’s lack of respect for the Bahamian people during the referendum process also contributed
to their humiliating defeat last Thursday. The F.N.M. government led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham,
blatantly disregarded the wishes from all sectors of our society to slow down the process.
Additionally, the failure of the F.N.M. party to effectively explain and categorically deny charges of corruption in a
believable manner was the biggest blow to them during the general election. Many posters on this site claim that Mr.
Turnquest only used bad judgement, but what I say is this: “If he saw nothing wrong with allowing Mr. Smith to pay
for the victory party at his home, imagine what else he would see nothing wrong with allowing”. Moreover, Mr. Dion
Foulkes gave the Bahamian people a very good reason to believe that he had the inclination to be corrupt if he were
to be elevated to high office.
I also found it very amusing that this “hard-mouthed” gentleman and his seemingly corrupt second couldn’t even
maintain their seats in parliament much less become leader and deputy- leader of this country (ha ha ha ha). Both
Mr. Turnquest and Mr. Foulkes made serious miss-judgement in reference to their support base in their respective
constituencies of Mount Moriah and Blue Hills. Both of these gentlemen thought they possesed the luxury of having
the ability to win a seat without rigorous campaigning like a Perry Christie, Bradley Roberts, “Mother” Pratt or
Hubert Ingraham do: They are not that popular and they had to learn the hard way. Sadly enough, Dr. Bernard
Nottage made the same mistake, however unlike Mr. Turnquest and Mr. Foulkes; Dr. Nottage still has a contribution
to make to the Bahamas. It is my personal wish the Prime Minister Christie appoint Dr. Nottage as an independent
senator, because it would be a shame for such a highly competent man to be completely phased out of politics in the
Bahamas.
In conclusion, the only way I can see the F.N.M. making head way in finding a new leader (seeing that Hubert
Ingraham is out of the question), is to take the chance and ask Mr. Brent Symonette to resign his Montague seat and
get someone like Mr. Zhivargo Laing to contest it in a bye-election and make him leader of the opposition (Others
Can Fit the Equation as well like Mr. Darron Cash or Mr. Barry Malcolm) and then work from their. But I strongly
feel that it would be in their best interest to leave Mr. Turnquest and Mr. Foulkes out of the solution.
Until then…P.L.P. All The Way
Bahamian Student Abroad