Dear BP,
Collective cabinet responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is not just a fundamental principle in parliamentary systems. It is a cornerstone, an essential pillar that upholds the integrity and unity of the cabinet, particularly within the Westminster system, which we practice in the Bahamas. This convention mandates that all cabinet members publicly support all governmental decisions made in the Cabinet, even if they privately disagree with them. The main feature of collective cabinet responsibility is:
Cabinet Solidarity: Once a decision is made, all cabinet members must publicly support it and vote with the government. If ministers cannot support a decision, they are expected to resign. This principle ensures a unified front and maintains the government’s stability and coherence, reassuring the public that it works as a unified entity for their best interests.
Except for Duane Sands’s dismissal, no FNM member has ever left or resigned from their cabinet post on principle. It is genuinely perplexing now to hear former FNM cabinet ministers attempting to distance themselves from the disastrous policies of the former administration. The Westminster principles are unequivocal: If you disagree with a cabinet course of action, the honourable course is to resign. Yet, no one did, indicating a collective disregard or woeful lack of knowledge of the principles of collective cabinet responsibility.
They were all complicit in any policy, regardless of its impact on the Bahamas. Yet they now attempt to gaslight us, to make us forget their active roles in the destruction of the Bahamas during the COVID lockdown. This betrayal of public trust is deeply disappointing and cannot be overlooked, making the audience feel the weight of their betrayal.
They were clapping gleefully when Bahamian lives and businesses were being destroyed and compounded the pain by a reckless, demonic Stop, Review, and Cancel policy. The negative impact of the former administration’s policies is undeniable, and their actions have only served to frustrate and anger the Bahamian people. The FNM is now attempting to increase the people’s frustration by transferring the crippling consequences of their diabolical policies to the PLP.
The FNM’s penchant for shutting down projects already in progress cost hard-working Bahamians their jobs, sometimes their homes, and their mental health. It also costs Bahamian taxpayers millions in breaches of contract suits, and some projects are never revived. This is the FNM’s actual policy, the destruction of the Bahamian right to work and provide for their families. A policy which allowed their cronies and close relatives to hold wedding ceremonies and open their swank restaurants and for financial backers to bury their dogs while we were all locked down and couldn’t bury our loved ones. A policy that saw our sick loved ones huddled in leaking tents during the rainy season when the vacant Clarence A. Bain building could have been retrofitted to shelter our sick, cold relatives from the rain.
This once again demonstrated to us the FNM’s complete lack of humanity. All the while, they were bragging about their Stew Fish meals and exercising at their leisure when we were all locked down. This FNM policy allowed a fraudulent Oban signing, which has not been explained to this day.
Yet these incorrigible former FNM cabinet ministers and parliamentarians wish us to believe they knew nothing about it. Now I know that it is an article of FNM thinking that Bahamians of any political persuasion are “weapons-grade idiots” That is why they and their online trolls continue to disseminate some of the vilest, scandalous posts all designed to make us forget that they were part and parcel of one of the most incompetent, scandal-ridden governments in the history of our country.
They also want us to forget that their only policy, avidly embraced by their parliamentary grouping and followers, is to stop review and cancel. They want to lie and flam themselves into office once more and finish the goal of destroying the Bahamas and, by extension, the PLP.
So, with stop review and cancel as their guiding principle, what punishment and grief would an FNM government have in store for us? The punishment will likely start with nationwide cancellations of all contracts and projects remotely connected to the PLP. Maybe even a refund to the GBPA for the owed money they will pay Bahamian taxpayers and the cancellation and frustration of the tourist-base Family Island projects.
The grief will come with the cancellation of all projects aimed at preserving the lives and health of Bahamians, primarily through NHI, so the new clinics and hospitals are for stop review and cancellation. Why? Because they want us to die
According to some pundits, Grand Bahama will receive special treatment from the FNM. Michael Pintard will be their target. So, cancellation of the new multi-million dollar modern international airport terminal, no bridges and seawalls repaired and the GBPA Licensees will be encouraged to continue to plunder and pillage the economy.
A wise person once commented that when someone tells you who they are, you should believe them the first time. The FNM has shown and demonstrated to us over the years that their goal, their only goal, is to destroy the Bahamian way of life, their survival, and the PLP. It is unclear how they propose eliminating the PLP, not the Bahamas; it is anyone’s guess. Many Bahamians did not believe them when they said who they were the last time; what about the next time?
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
