FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14th August 2014
Bradley B. Roberts
Progressive Liberal Party
The latest Jekyll and Hyde like episode of flip flopping and backtracking by Dr. Minnis on the four constitutional bills currently before Parliament prove once again that he is unstable in his ways, does not support equal rights for women nor does he support equality for all under the law.
It was on the 23rd July that Dr. Minnis was fully onboard with the bills when he expressed pleasure that “once again this Parliament will be enabled to take a stand in favour of the equality of every Bahamian Citizen upon our Nation’s Constitution and the laws of our Land.” This was after an exhaustive consultative process with both the Constitutional Commission and the government so he was fully aware of and in full agreement with the bills.
He went further and waxed eloquent about how “every man, every women and the child of every Bahamian, is endued by our Creator with the inalienable right to expect and to receive equal treatment before the Law and under the Constitution” and that this tenet was a “guiding principle” of the FNM from its inception.
But lo and behold, just three weeks later and without any change to the bills to which he fully agreed, he is now saying that “where there is fear and doubt, there is disaster. I am not prepared to sit here and change the constitution in a fashion to encourage or to bring forth total disaster for future generations.” He failed to explain the nature of the disaster he referred to, but made it patently clear to all and sundry and Bahamians everywhere that his word cannot be trusted and that he does not stand on any principle.
Additionally, with his new position and theme of “fear,” “doubt” and “disaster,” Dr. Minnis is demonstrating uncertainty about and has effectively turned back the clock on women’s rights and equality for all under the law.
This irrational outburst in Parliament on Wednesday, 13th August should not come as a surprise to anybody as this is the latest in a very familiar, albeit disturbing pattern of behavior that calls his leadership and general decision making process into serious question. His leadership behavior on other important national issues such as Value Added Tax (VAT), legalizing the web shop gaming industry and the introduction of Stem Cell research and therapy demonstrated an eerily similar pattern. The record clearly shows that Dr. Minnis has flip-flopped on virtually every national issue facing The Bahamas.
For its part, the PLP supports women’s rights, gender equality and equality for all under the law. We encourage all Bahamians to become educated about and place their support behind the constitutional bills currently before Parliament that seek to deepen our democracy by expanding personal rights and freedoms to all Bahamians.
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