Christie Government has rescued the country from the abyss Ingraham and the FNM left it!!!!….

Bradley B. Roberts
National Chairman
Progressive Liberal Party

The heavy lifting of the government during the first half of its term is bearing positive fruits for The Bahamas and the PLP fully endorses the midyear budget statement by Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie and look forward to a spirited debate next week. The government’s fiscal discipline in containing spiraling debt and the successful implementation of much needed revenue generating measures are all welcomed news. Yes the PLP government has rescued the wrecked ship of state when the former crew was fired for wrecking the same.

The numbers do not lie.

We again congratulate the Prime Minister and his team for their focused leadership, patience and courage as they boldly tackled the tough national issues facing this country when others lacked the personal courage, political will and conviction to address them while in office. In opposition they chose the easy path which is to hide in the tall grasses and throw stones, hoping against hope for failure.

The record will show that during last year’s midterm budget debate, opposition leader Dr. Minnis said that there was “no talk (by the PLP government) of introducing significant renewable energy initiatives or amendments to the Energy Act that would afford Bahamians even the smallest break or breather.” The PLP government was not talking – the PLP government was hard at work for the Bahamian people. The amended BEC Act has passed the House and the national energy policy completed – all by the midterm. What would Minnis and the FNM say now? Not only was he wrong on this score but he and his party did not see its way to offer this vision and relief to the Bahamian people in their entire term of five years save an except providing a few energy saving light bulbs.

Minnis went further. He said “but Mr. Speaker, what I question is the feasibility of the government’s proposed plans to increase revenue collection – even a little bit” He was wrong yet again on this score, demonstrating that he has absolutely no idea or understanding and out of his depth on operations of government. The facts are that the PLP government successfully implemented Value Added Tax (VAT) and is on target to achieve its target of $300 million in 2015. Further, the Ministry of Finance has reported $50 million in real property tax collection in this year alone when Minnis and the FNM left over $500 million in delinquent accounts; the regularization of the gaming industry and the modernization of our gaming laws will generate millions more for the benefit of Bahamians while Minnis opposed all and stood on the sidelines and hoped against hope that these policies would fail. He offered no viable alternatives.

I strongly believe that given the rhetoric coming out of the FNM and other naysayers over the last thirty months, The Bahamas could have easily found itself in the predicament of a possible IMF intervention as is the case with one of our sister countries to the south.

Governor of the Central Bank of Denmark Per Callesen told that country they should not rule out an approach to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help improve the ailing economy.

“From a political perspective, you would hate to have foreigners intervening in how you run your affairs. You would, of course, prefer to be on your own. It is just that if the way you have done that is (such) that you don’t have any credibility in the markets, then lining up with the IMF is a much better solution than going completely down the drains of your economy. So that is the balance,” Callesen said.

So why should anybody listen to Minnis and the FNM as they continue to spew forth more sour grapes? He was wrong then and he is wrong now. What is good for The Bahamas is clearly bad for the FNM. How else can one explain the sour note the FNM opposition continues to sing in the face of positive news for the country?

I invited Dr. Minnis and the FNM before and I invite again to eat crow and to do so liberally.

Dr. Minnis continues to build a legacy of opposing sound public policies for no logical reason only to find himself on the wrong side of the argument and history. This is not the quality of a leader; he is at best an amateur critic and we have them a dime a dozen in The Bahamas.

The PLP government for its part and to its credit continues to lead and make the right policy decisions for the future security and prosperity of the Bahamian people. This government remains the best choice for this country.