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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 The leadership race in the Free National Movement is bringing out the extra in some people. None more extra than that of challenger, FNM Member of Parliament for Long Island, Loretta Butler-Turner, and her empty statements on the economy we read in the Nassau Guardian published on the 20th July 2016
We took note that on the other fold was an opinion editorial written by the former FNM Minister of Finance, Zhivargo Laing, where he asked what exactly is wrong with the economy? It is almost as if they were trying to give you visions of what would happen under Butler-Turner’s leadership. Quite frankly, those visions are more like nightmares!
We won’t belabour the mis-steps of the former Minister of State Laing, except for the infamous statement he is known for with regard to the sale of The Bahamas Telecommunications Company: “49% is the same as 51%.” No matter how you do the math, and no matter how you arrange the words on paper to describe the ownership and management structure, 49% is not the same as 51%.
However, in reference to statements made by Mrs. Butler-Turner, we are simply baffled that she has little or nothing to offer this Bahamas in terms of strengthening our economy other than empty statements, and glittering generalities without substance. No plan of action, just words she wishes the voter to feel from her as words of strength and words that engender confidence. We need more than that, but we do not believe it will be forthcoming because both of the major parties don’t feel they need to do the extra.
We are troubled by this, because we feel as if the Loyal Opposition is in more trouble than we once anticipated. Not only do they have a power struggle happening between the people that are in leadership versus the people they feel should be in leadership and looks best as leadership, they appear to have no working team on the ground devising real strategies, real policies and real plans of action if they were to win office.
Case in point: The current leader of the FNM and Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Hubert Minnis, has announced his plan to cut taxes, particularly Value Added Tax, on certain items across the board and in the inner-cities. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trashed his proposed initiative as having the possibility of doing more harm than good, considering that we are in deep debt, costing the taxpayers $60 million in lost revenue with no idea of how it will impact the economy significantly. The DNA also would like to add that the IMF forgot that Dr. Minnis’s plan goes beyond just cutting taxes for certain items and areas, but also that the idea has not been thoroughly researched and doesn’t have any analytical grounding even if he were to come to office and if it did have merit along with the initiative costing much more than $60 million, and would more than double IMF estimates.
This is what we are dealing with: Empty talk, empty slogans and half-hearted efforts along with ideas stemming from the leadership of the FNM that have no substance and no analytical grounding to them, at all.
Worst off from both Dr. Minnis and Butler-Turner, they have offered no light, no saving grace, no solutions in the public with regard to the possible downgrade of this economy by Moody’s and neither have they responded with policy initiatives from the FNM to address the most recent IMF Article 4 Assessment or anything substantial at the margins to give us confidence.
Conversely, Butler-Turner announced that she plans to stem bank fees and practices in The Bahamas in an attempt to answer what the IMF had said with regard to banks not extending credit to the private sector due to particular economic misalignments. To this, we state clearly that we do not believe she will do anything to any degree with banking practices. Reason being that the Butler family is one of the largest shareholders in the only Bahamian owned bank, Commonwealth Bank. A bank that announced massive profits just recently off of this “new-normal” in banking, where banks make more on fees than they do on lending activities. Are we to believe that Butler-Turner is prepared to go against a company her family has interest in to help Bahamians? Particularly when she has never mentioned anything with regard to banking practices in The Bahamas ever prior to the IMF note being highlighted?
On the other hand, her running mate and potential Deputy Leader, Dr. Duane Sands, sat as a member of the Central Bank Board for years while these banking practices escalated to the un-Godly and obscene situation it is today. Dr. Sands and former Minister of State Laing watched as it got to the levels we have today, but yet one has the audacity to ask questions about what is wrong with our economy while the other stands by and watches his running mate make promises he knows may have a problem keeping, even if they wanted to keep them?
All of these factors, along with the people questioning Butler-Turner’s energy level and work-ethic, we simply are not prepared to state with any degree of confidence that we feel comfortable with what is emanating out of the Opposition Party- and our discomfort goes well beyond their bitter political turf-war they are embroiled in today.
The DNA has gone on record time and time again with what we will do on several fronts on the economy and finance. We aren’t hiding what we intend, what we plan or what we will impact. This is not empty, un-sourced rhetoric. We have what it takes to do what is necessary.
Youri Kemp
DNA Candidate for Garden Hills
DNA Spokesperson for the Economy and Finance
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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