Dear Editor,
I am totally convinced that when the political history of The Bahamas is objectively told, this Minnis led FNM administration will emerge as the singular most corrupt government administration of the party era.
The historical irony of the FNM is that it’s formation came amidst the dismissal of PLP ministers in connection with the scandal surrounding the lobbying and alleged bribery for the granting of a casino license up in Freeport.
This was followed by a bombing, a murder and multiple accounts of violent acts of voter intimidation in the run up to the 1972 general elections. All of these incidents were connected to the political activities and operatives of the FNM, even as they sought to brand the PLP as corrupt.
So the history and origins of the FNM are inextricably linked to the corruption.
Let’s fast forward forty-years to 2017.
The FNM ran on an anti-corruption platform – telling the Bahamian people that they will clean up corruption and that it was the people’s time.
Today on the eve of another general election, the Minnis government is accused of telling lies on the PLP because of three reasons:
They have no record to run on; they are desperate to hold onto power and they cannot tell the truth about themselves.
But here is the honest truth about the FNM:
Golden Gates MP Michael Foulkes was disbarred in the state of Florida after the Florida State Supreme Court convicted him of stealing his client’s money. Dr. Minnis had to know about this disqualifying stain on Foulkes’ overall fitness to hold public office through their due diligence, but the FNM ratified him anyway – twice in fact – and the Prime Minister was in Golden Gates on Saturday, 27 February campaigning for Michael Foulkes.
Agriculture Minister Michael Pintard resigned as Senator and FNM Chairman over bribery scandal caught on tape. Dr. Minnis also ignored this disqualifying event and character stain on Mr. Pintard, ratifying him twice.
National Security Marvin Dames accepted bribery money and was judicially condemned. Dr. Minnis ignored the very credible bribery charges documented by a foreign government and entered into permanent records of the House. The Prime Minister also made light of the judicial condemnation of Minister Dames’ official conduct.
Former Financial Services and Immigration Minister Brent Symonette resigned over the TCM lease scandal. In the process, the Prime Minister misled the House on Mr. Symonette’s participatory role in the TCM lease agreement.
For his part, Prime Minister Minnis gave himself a fat lease contract as a Minister and failed to report it for 2 election cycles, breaking the law – the Parliamentary Elections Act.
PM Minnis also misled Parliament on the fake Oban deal and presided over a fake contract signing ceremony.
Prime Minister Minnis broke the law on refusing to reveal how hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars were spent during the COVID state of public emergency. Section 11.2 of the Emergency Powers Orders calls for this accountability by the Finance Minister but to date there has been no compliance with the law.
Disgraced former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Peter Turnquest, resigned over a $28 million fraud scandal and reinvoicing scandal made public by a whistleblower in a US court.
Former Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands resigned over a COVID travel protocol scandal. What remains unanswered however is this though: the foreign travelers could not enter the country without the approvals of both the Immigration and Aviation Ministers so why were they not terminated failing their resignations? We are not holding our collective breaths for the Prime Minister to clarify this.
The latest episode of corruption to rock this Minnis administration was the recent resignation of Youth and Sports Minister Lanisha Rolle under a dark cloud of suspicion. In acknowledging her resignation, the government confirmed an investigation into the operations at the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The Prime Minister confirmed two days later that Mrs. Rolle was not under an investigation which begs the question of why the Minister resigned in the first place. The Prime Minister is silent on this matter. The Bahamian people have no reason to believe or expect that the Prime Minister will ever address and clarify this serious matter.
The FNM is not a crew to be believed or trusted.
They lie like a rug.
They lie as effortlessly as fish take on water.
This Minnis government is by far the most corrupt of any government administration and should be roundly rejected by the Bahamian electorate.
YOURS ETC.
A disappointed Bahamian voter
