Hon. Fred Mitchell moderated a press conference at PLP headquarters on Sunday to address the Juries Bill presented in the House of Assembly last week. Members of the opposition called for the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham to apologize for his actions toward opposition leader Perry Christie in the House of Assembly last Wednesday. Seen here also on the podium are; Hon. B. J. Nottage, Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and Hon. Alfred Sears.
Nassau Bahamas – Members of the opposition Progressive Liberal Party will called for an apology from the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham at the next sitting of the Parliament. Leader of opposition business in the House Dr. Hon. B. J. Nottage made that announcement during a press conference on Sunday at Sir Lynden Pinding Center.
“The Prime Minister appeared to go berserk, shouting at the top of his voice and berating the Leader of the Opposition in a manner unbecoming of any Prime Minister. Indeed, he went too far.” Dr Nottage said.
A shouting match began as tempers flared in the House of Assembly on last week Monday, as the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham decried the conditions of the country’s judicial system left by the former PLP government.
“His words, his tenor and his manner were unparliamentary and were abusive. It is not conduct which is appropriate for a Prime Minister.” Dr Nottage said.
Dr. Nottage noted during the press conference of how even members of the governing party found the comments of the Prime Minister offensive.
“This conduct was particularly offensive in the face of the number of speakers on the FNM side who, during the debate had been preaching about the need for members of the House to set standards of good behavior by the way they conduct themselves during debates. Unfortunately, they did not follow their own advice and their Leader was the worst example.” Dr. Nottage said.
Dr Nottage confirmed that his party intends to call at the next sitting of the House, for the Prime Minister to apologize.
BP, Looking back at the comments that favour the PM is one of the reasons why this Country is in such a turmoil. We cannot demand a good moral conduct from our leaders so we should not expect anything less from the criminals
I don’t know, maybe the PLP is of the view that there is a need to protect Mr. Christie’s manhood(To borrow a phrase from former PLP Senator Damian Gomez), who himself took the PLP to task over this whole ordeal and thought that they squandered an opportunity to engage in meaningful debate and appeal to the intellect of the bahamian as it relates to the bill that was being debated.
The PLP must think that bahamians are stupid, we all watched the exchange. Mr. Christie was shouting just as loud as Mr. Ingraham. The reason that we could hear Mr. Ingraham and not Mr. Christie was because; Mr. Ingraham was already on his feet speaking and his Mic was on, whereas Mr. Christie’s was off as the present system can only accomodate one speaker at a time. In addition to that PLP members of parliment were cheering and encouraging Mr. Christie as he shouted at Mr. Ingrahm, and it was Mr. Christie who began the shouting match, Mr. Ingraham just finished it for him. So PLP admin or whoever the hell you are go get a life because that bullsh!t you guys are putting out realling isn’t selling.
You reveal to us on a daily basis that there was much wisdom shown by the majority of the bahamian people in voting the PLP out of office!
I thought the print media in particular failed the general public in their reporting of the press conference at Gambier House on Sunday 28th Oct 2007. I guess to focus on the demand for an apology makes for better press and is more sensational. I am, however, personally disappointed that the media did not delve into (with greater detail), the five recommendations of the chief Justice as it relates to juries; the position of the PLP on the Juries Act (amendment); and their recommendations to improve the efficiency of the administration of justice.
The demand for an apology from the PM was one sentence in a comprehensive press conference that lasted almost two hours with three presentations and a question and answer period.
Some of the key points raised were: Jurors must not serve for more than six weeks at a time with a five year break in between jury duties. The government must pay employers for the time off given to employees to serve on juries. An employer must be provided with the total time served by his or her employee and any employer who docks an employee’s pay for jury duty will be proscecuted by law. These are some of the issues raised by Alfred Sears that I thought the media should have highlighted in greater detail.
The country is also under threat of a possible blacklisting by the by international securities regulators. This means that our financial services sector is under threat again and the government is silent on the issue. But no, the media wants to talk about personalities and intentionally shifts the national debate from issues of governance to the politics of bickering.
What about restructuring the financial administration of the Judiciary? This would significantly improve the judicial physical plant and general working conditions.
The supreme court needs to be in one complex, not four, and a suitable location for both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal needs to be identified and complex constructed post haste.
The Prime Minister is who he is and does what he does, but it is the responsibilty of the opposition and the Great Fourth Estate to place foremost in the minds of the Bahamian people, the qualities and elements of good governance (or the lack thereof) and how these qualities and elements manifest themselves through sound public policies. All gaps must be necessarily exposed. Let’s remain focused Bahamians. The issue is governance….through effective public policy.
The PLP must NEVER allow itself to become distracted by the FNM directly, or its many operatives, wherever they may be and however they seek to express themselves.
Remember, stay on message and stay on course.
First of all damn right I am a Bahamian. Secondly, I do not find anything wrong with how my leader acted. Christie finally has so such to say when nobody wants to hear him. he had his chance and shit it up so now is the time for him to just keep quiet and watch the real man do the job(you the one he was suppose to do). Honestly and truly im so sick and tired of this politics shit. Its taking over our country and no one sames to notice it because everybodys so damn caught up into this crap.
You as a Bahamian (I assume) should be embarrassed and ashamed that our leader could act in such a manner towards a colleague and former leader.
Nobody is being a baby by demanding better from the Prime Minister of this country. If you are willing to settle for that gutteral, low brow, barroom antics, then thats on you, but the rest of us expect more from the leader of this nation.
Too many Bahamians who support the FNM are doing themselves and this country a disservice by not demanding more from their leaders. Mr. Ingraham lost his marbles because he brought to the House, his third piece of legislation that was a useless waste of time and was being defeated. The Chief Justice of the Bahamas did not recommend or support the change in jury size and the president of the Bahamas Bar Association also did not support this bill. It was going down in a vote and Mr. Ingraham was upset about that and decided to cause a ruckus, adjourn the House and come back after “further consultation.”
Here is what we know for a fact. They didn’t consult anyone. Not the Bar Association, not the Chamber of Commerce, not the Christian Council. Nobody was consulted. So if you want to call the PLP babies for demanding better behaviour from the CEO of this country after coming with a half baked piece of legislation, then so be it. At least there are still some Bahamians who understand that a government must govern.
These big babies gettin on my damn nerves now. They always cryin about somethin. I wonder if they really expectin to receive an apology… bunch of fools, just needs to damn grow the hell up and shut up.
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