The Editor
Bahamas Press 3rd March 2021.
If the emotionally and financially battered Bahamians expected this incompetent FNM government to account to us for the billions of our taxes squandered with no benefit to us, and their threats of even more taxes we were sorely disappointed.
Instead, what we saw during the mid-term budget debate farce was perhaps one of the most disgusting displays of deflection, lying, pomposity, self-promotion and pandering ever seen in our parliament. And the speaker as usual was useless.
When will he realize that as far as the FNM is concerned he has served their purpose by frustrating opposition presentations, allowing the government side to heckle, harass and drown out any meaningful debate and when that failed lashing out at opposition MPs especially Mrs. Glenys Hanna-Martin.
The speaker is now what all impecunious, jumped up, arrogant and high-handed politicians become; he is irrelevant.
Rather than account to us the FNM parliamentarians engaged in frenzied chest beating, dissembling, and self-congratulation designed as usual to confuse us and distract us from the corruption, no bid contracts , an epidemic of cabinet resignations and the financial mess we are in.
With over 40% of the Bahamian work force unemployed; a rising national debt; almost daily murders and their transparent lies we are becoming exhausted. As usual the lead attack dog was the minister responsible for immigration who appeared to have an intimate knowledge of the operation and intentions of the PLP.
The minister conveniently neglected to address the allegations of rampant corruption in his own ministry as well as him not being able to campaign in his soon to be gone constituency.
The minster also neglected to explain how it is that foreigners are in possession of Bahamian passports; foreigners who do not speak English; did not explain the continued allegations of Bahamian citizenship being doled out like candy; and staff unrest in his ministry nor why the FNM is renominating serial wife beaters and misogynists.
The mid-term budget debate was intended to show how well the government discharged its stewardship and indicate how our money was spent. None of this happened.
Rather, we had a pathetic admission from the prime minister(PM) that it was not the “Peoples Time” during his first term but, that he would take care of us in his second term. No wonder his minister of health referred to him as the “Testicular Leader”. This PM has a brass set on him. Think about it, if we are nearly $10 Billion in debt yet, the people have not yet been taken care of what amounts of borrowing will be required to correct this apparent oversight.
None of this should come as a shock to Bahamians. The FNM group led by Loretta Butler and her colleagues who temporarily unseated Minnis as party leader warned us about him and his incompetence and arrogance. Couple this with his spitefulness, self-delusion and overcompensation and we have a leader who is woefully out of his depth and surrounds himself with sycophants who tell him that all is well. The PM’s shortcomings and mental state was on full display last night. He strutted to the microphone in a style reminiscent of Adolph Hitler and reiterated his theme of “ One People, One Nation, One Leader’ when only the one leader part is true.
This PM is a one-man wrecking crew who has surrounded himself with yes men and women whose extravagant lifestyles courtesy of their salaries plus a so-called constituency allowance of $100,000 has provided them with financial means they only dreamed about four years ago. As usual he pandered to all segments of Bahamian society and made promises which he will not keep. In an attempt to pacify us he has promised land, our land and talked about unemployment benefits paid to Bahamians as if it were coming out of his personal funds.
Finally let me reiterate something I wrote earlier this year. The FNM never cared for the plight of Bahamians. Their focus is on pleasing their wealthy friends and backers at our expense. But time is running away from them as Bahamians become more and more disgusted with their lies, incompetence, and disdain for us. Ironically one of the biggest complaints against previous PLP administrations was their reluctance to prosecute corrupt former FNM politicians. The PLP can never be accused of engaging in “victors justice”. This reluctance has caused unease in the ranks for many years as they have seen tainted former FNM officials go from strength to strength as if nothing untoward occurred. But that was the “old” PLP, the “new” PLP is very different and determined ; they have learned hard lesson lessons at the hands of the FNM.
So, when all of the frolicking and corruption engaged in by the FNM and local businessmen is investigated I do not expect a PLP administration to make that same mistake again.
Sincerely,
The Observer
