by Bradley B. E. Roberts, National Chairman Progressive Liberal Party
I have been following with piqued interest the continued and sustained denials from the FNM leaders and their sympathizer regarding the outcome of the recent general elections. It appears that to maintain some dignity and perhaps energize their base, they have been constantly spinning that more persons voted against the PLP than for them. The Fact of the matter is that many other Countries like the Bahamas embrace the electoral system of first pass the post.
The most recent spin and veiled attack came from Rick Lowe in his WeblogBahamas.com opinion piece, entitled “The ball is in your court now Mr. Roberts”.
If one follows Mr. Lowe’s flawed logic and assertion, that ‘more people voted against the PLP than in their favour’, the same can be said, and more emphatically, about both the FNM and DNA. So the logical conclusion is that more Bahamians have faith in the PLP than the FNM or any other party. The Editorial of the Nassau Guardian of May 8th declared: The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has defeated Hubert Ingraham and his Free National Movement (FNM) in a landslide victory, returning Perry Christie to the post of prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Also contrary to his logic and assertion that the ball is in my court, the ball is not actually in my court – it is controlled by the new government of The Bahamas. There is a distinct difference between the PLP led government and the PLP political machinery – one governs the country and the other focuses on partisan politics.
This has always been the way business has been conducted in The Bahamas, with the FNM party, over the years, constantly congratulating the FNM Government for its accomplishments and reminding the electorate of things the PLP allegedly did or did not do.
In this vein, I do not recall hearing a word from Mr. Lowe, or anyone else, about the FNM chairmen having any ball in their court, or anything anti-government for that matter.
In light of this, I am recommending that the apologists and revisionists allow the Government to do its job, without the cynicism and veiled insults. The Progressive Liberal Party is of the firm belief that this Government, led by the Rt. Hon Perry Christie, will get the job done and will return our country to a sound socio-economic footing as the record showed during 2002-2007. This will no doubt give the apologists, naysayers and revisionists something else to ‘cry’ for or about.
As the Progressive Liberal Party Chairman, I will continue to remind all and sundry of the devastation brought about by the policies of the recently deposed administration, to ensure that history is not re-written and therefore repeated. I will also continue to invite all ‘reasonable’ Bahamians to join the Christie-led Government on the new path to empowerment, peace and prosperity.
Rick my good man, you now have Roberts and the entire PLP looking over their shoulders, good job Rick, it’s best they worry.
But having admonished the FNM for recalling the poor results of their administration and saying this is a bad thing, he ends by doing precisely that himself at the end of his comments.
Thank you for your reply, Mr. Roberts. You rightly point out (imply) that the business of Government is government, so I hope the new Administration will get on with it but should not shy away from reminding the Electorate about the state of affairs that you met upon entering office. The debt clock (to the right of this page) did not start on 08th May 2012, neither did the capital’s propensity for serious crimes, the unemployment or the declining educational standards. The socio-economic fallout we are now experiencing is the sum total of ALL previous government efforts in The Bahamas, so I should hope that your administration will differentiate itself immediately and clearly to convince the public that you mean business. Good Luck!