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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Nassau, Bahamas - Address by Bradley B Roberts, National Chairman Progressive Liberal Party July 31st 2016 at PLP New Providence Branch:
Madam Chair Mrs. Shelley Sweeting
Officers and Members of the New Providence Women’s Branch,
Ladies and gentlemen, a very pleasant afternoon to all.
I wish to warmly congratulate Shelly on her recent election and extend best wishes to her and the new executive team. I wish you every success in the crucial year that lies ahead and like I have always said, I have an open door policy and will do all that I can under the party’s constitution to assist in the future growth and development of this crucial organ of our party. I extend my thanks to outgoing team headed by Sharine Johnson.
I deem it a privilege to extend to you all a warm welcome…and boy isn’t it warm?? The heat on the political front…and the prevailing weather will make for an extra hot silly season that we are well into as the general elections of 2017 are less than a year away.
On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and delivered the famous “I Have a Dream’’ speech.
Almost 53 years later much has been accomplished in realizing the dream that Dr. King spoke about. For the first time in the history of the United States a woman was nominated by a major political party to run for the Presidency. Like Dr. King, your Progressive Liberal Party has articulated for all Bahamians not a dream but a vision of a future filled with good health, economic growth, crime reduction and the further empowerment of our Women.
Your Progressive Liberal Party has always regarded our women as one of this country’s most valuable assets. It is within your collective power to select and terminate governments as the record shows that women exercise their voting franchise in greater percentages than men. Additionally, there are 15,000 more registered women voters than men and so you must leverage your political power and influence wisely, that is for the benefit of all Bahamians. You must continue to be strong advocates for women’s rights, the rights and protection of children and the poor among us.
So when revisionist, sexist and racist leaders threaten your reproductive rights, you are speak up with one loud voice in strong opposition to this undemocratic policy and legislation designed to set the Bahamas back decades.
One such leader is the MP Richard Lightbourn FNM who said it is necessary “for us as a nation to consider adopting the lead of several countries in the world which results in an unwed mother having her tubes tied after having more than two children which would in the end result in fewer children being born.”
He said “the state should not have the burden of paying for the upbringing of children” and “by adopting such measures, there would be [fewer] classrooms needed in the future and [fewer] persons coming out of school every year seeking employment and would also result in the mother of these children being able to live a better life not having to bring up so many children.”
Ladies and gentlemen, notwithstanding Lightbourn’s apology, the obvious problem is that his policy and legislative proposal was a considered and pre-premeditated position developed over several paragraphs in his prepared text and not some off the cuff comment. Further nowhere does Lightbourn say that he doesn’t believe what he said - he merely regrets having voiced it!
You must ensure that Richard Lightbourn becomes such a political liability and distraction to the FNM that he is forced from the frontlines of politics and nowhere near the precincts of legislation. Insist on his retirement in the public interest.
There is no place for this kind of neo-fascist Nazi misogynistic ideology in a free modern democratic Bahamas.
How Dr. Minnis handles this serious policy misstep that was clearly dead on arrival and the neo fascist in his caucus who is the source of this revisionist idea will speak to Minnis’ integrity and trustworthiness as a leader. He already dropped the ball by failing to vet what his caucus members intend to propose on behalf of the party and the country; he presided over a convention that many view as a failure, a circus and a joke, but he still has a chance to redeem himself and his leadership.
If Dr. Minnis does not think that entire convention was one big joke, then he is truly delusional!
As I mentioned earlier, we are in the silly season and I wish to send a strong warning to our supporters to remain steadfast as there will be many attempts to spread propaganda by opposition forces and their surrogates with personal and hidden agendas to create alarm with unfounded allegations, assumptions, suppositions and pure lies.
For example, the former disgraced President of the Chamber of Commerce Robert Meyers was in the newspapers asserting that a devaluation of the Bahamian dollar was likely.
For the edification of our younger supporters, the facts are that the Bahamian Dollar came into effect in 1966, over 50 years ago and was officially pegged to the US Dollar on a one to one basis.
The Bahamas Central Bank has established exchange controls to preserve this “pegged” value, since import trade relations depend on having adequate US dollar reserves in the treasury to support various credit arrangements with other countries.
The Bahamas is one of a few countries that has never defaulted on its financial obligations to any of its partner financial institutions or investors; the government of The Bahamas has always and will continue to jealously guard, protect and honour the country’s full faith and credit and I may add, international reputation, of The Bahamas. For one half century we have successfully maintained our currency parity with the US dollar. This alone is a testament to our continued economic and political stability as a sovereign nation.
I remember visiting Jamaica for the first time almost 50 years ago when it took $1:10 US to purchase one Jamaican dollar. Today it takes J$ 126 Jamaican Dollars to purchase one $1:00 US dollar.
To his credit, the chair of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employment Confederation warned that much of the public commentary about currency devaluation are based on sentiment and not facts; Mr. Bowe distinguished between sovereign credit and foreign reserves issues. Mr. Meyers’ unfounded claims were also debunked by officials of the Central Bank of The Bahamas but despite the empirical details provided by the Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, Robert Meyers maintains his groundless and baseless gloom and doom scare tactics.
A close confidant in the FNM informed me of the following: Hubert Ingraham led the FNM to a devastating defeat in May 2012 and resigned from Parliament, abandoning his constituents and the FNM. Dr. Hubert Minnis was elected to replace Hubert Ingraham and shortly thereafter his leadership was challenged. Loretta Butler Turner mounted a challenge and was soundly defeated. A convention date was set for November 2016 but pressure was brought to bear by the gang of six who threatened to have him removed as Leader of the Opposition. The details were outlined in a scathing and damning letter which forced Minnis to reschedule the convention date.
A group of diehard Hubert Ingraham supporters were busy organizing for his return. Election paraphernalia were secured but then it became apparent that Minnis had secured the support of the majority of voting delegates. It became crystal clear that delegates would not embrace the man who abandoned them during the party’s weakest hour and embraced his $10,000:00 monthly pension. Hubert Ingraham at the last minute placed his tail between his legs and announced he would continue in retirement. That letter to chairman Collie and subsequent interview to the media where he lambasted his party were nothing more than selfish sour grapes.
Bombastic Loretta Butler Turner and serial loser Dr. Duane Sands cowardly surrendered and admitted defeat at 2.00 am before the first ballot was cast. Butler-Turner accused Minnis of criminal behavior and organized corruption that she would not “validate.”
Hours later she would hold a press conference to say that notwithstanding the fact that Dr. Minnis rigged the entire electoral process, she will work with him in the future for the sake of party unity. Really? Where is Loretta Butler-Turner’s sense of self respect, dignity, honour and integrity?
There is no unity in the FNM. What the Bahamian people saw was a poorly organized and executed convention with accusations of organized corruption and criminal conduct which caused a bitter row among delegates. Peter Turnquest cussed out Butler-Turner from the podium while Ingraham was lurking in the shadows seeking to use his minions to selfishly break up the entire party so he could emerge and appear to be the party's savior. Lightbourn proposed violating women’s reproductive rights, a proposal nobody agreed with; Renward Wells failed to mention the good people of Bamboo Town in his address and many of the FNM members of parliament refused to attend the final night of convention.
If this is the way the FNM organize themselves as a party with all of this acrimonious infighting and distrust, how can Bahamians trust them to organize a government and chart the way forward for an entire country?
My observation is that the FNM is not ready for prime time and not ready to govern.
I close by again encouraging those assembled and all PLP’s to be disciplined and focused on the task at hand and ahead. The objective of the party is bigger than any personal ambition as we exist only to serve the Bahamian people and move this country forward. We must therefore conduct ourselves circumspectly so that we may prove ourselves worthy of the people’s trust. The FNM’s convention was indeed a teachable moment in leadership.
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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