Bahamian Politics
FNM Rally remarks by Dr. Hubert Minnis
Mar 29, 2017 - 12:14:40 PM

Remarks Honorable Dr. Hubert Minnis, Leader of the Free National Movement South-Eastern New Providence Rally Tuesday 28 March 2017 It’s Too Late for the PLP to Say Sorry

F-N-Ms:

Good evening. When I look at this crowd, all I can say is:

It’s the People’s Time!

Are you ready to Roc with Doc?

Brave Davis put out a press release last week saying how supposedly impressed the world is with Perry Christie. That had to be a joke. I don’t know what world Brave living in. It’s probably the world of make-believe because most of us are living in the real world of the hell the PLP has put on the Bahamian people.

Of course, this is the same Brave who was trying to get rid of Christie for the past five years, and who can’t stand Christie. I hear sometimes the two of them barely talk to each other.

The students and faculty of the University of The Bahamas aren’t impressed by Christie. Only about 15 people turned up to listen to him last week. I hear they had to go looking in the hallways to find people. Some of them were so unimpressed that they were on their cell phones while he was talking. Just like most Bahamians, they have tuned Christie out. People are tired of listening to Christie and all his empty talk and foolishness. Faculty often assign students to listen to certain guest speakers. Not only didn’t this seem to happen. The faculty also abandoned Christie in droves.

Young people are sick and tired of Christie. Women are sick and tired of Christie. Men are sick and tired of Christie. The message to Christie is: Not again! Not Again! Not again!

FNMs:

We were in Cat Island over the weekend. The people there say they are ready for change. They asked me if Nassau ready for change. Are you ready for change? I can’t hear you! Are you ready?!

Is Nassau Village ready for change? Dion Smith gone, gone, gone. I was in Nassau Village last week. The support was overwhelming. The people there tell me they are going to Roc with Doc!

Halson Moultrie will serve you well. He will serve you much better than Dion Smith, who has not served you well in government. The PLP has absolutely neglected Nassau Village.

South Beach is rock solid. Jeff Lloyd will bring valuable experience to government, especially in education and youth development. People in South Beach are telling me that there is no contest between Cleola and Jeff. South Beach is ready for change.

Marathon, let me hear you. Romi Ferreira is our change agent in Marathon. Marathon desperately needs change. Jerome Fitzgerald is one of the most arrogant and disgusting people in the House. Jerome never cared about Marathon. He only cares about his political ambition and protecting the PLP. He is a threat to the health, security and privacy of the Bahamian people. He engaged in a cover-up of the Rubis oil leak. He was willing to put the lives of potentially thousands of people at risk. WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

How can you trust a man like Jerome Fitzgerald, who used the floor of the House of Assembly to read people’s private emails – emails that could only have been acquired by someone by illegal means? WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

When Allyson Maynard Gibson conveniently flew out of the country, Jerome acted for her as Attorney General. He signed that nolle letting Allyson’s former client get off scot-free. WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT. Jerome is one of the worst of the bunch. He has to go. We have to weed out the rot of the PLP.

Reuben Rahming is our change agent in Pinewood. He is a part of our change team which will have a more comprehensive approach to fighting crime. Pinewood also needs improvements to infrastructure, which the PLP and Khaalis Rolle have ignored.

I hear that Khaalis is fed right up with Perry Christie, and very unhappy about the direction of the country under the PLP.

Renward Wells will keep Bamboo Town FNM. As I’ve said before: A vote for the DNA is a vote for the PLP. If you go to bed with the DNA you will wake up with the PLP. Bran can’t win Bamboo Town and the DNA can’t win the election. If you want to get rid of the PLP you have to vote for Renward and you have to vote FNM.

FNMs:

In response to some of the things Cotton Candy Christie is saying about me, one of the newspapers offered him this advice:

“We give this hint to Christie in the simplest language: We want to be saved from you.”

“We know [Christie] has nothing left to give The Bahamas. He has lost the magic. Unable to focus, he drifts from crisis to crisis …

“If Christie is reelected prime minister the status quo will remain. There will be high crime; there will be a high unemployment rate; there will be incoherence coming out of the Office of the Prime Minister; the corruption that we see today will be a joke.

“If the PLP’s message is that Christie is needed to save The Bahamas, we can tell that party now that that message will fail.”

Fellow Bahamians:

You know, many times people only say sorry when they get caught. But, IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry. IT’S TOO LATE for them to say sorry about 600 murders on their watch, and the worse crime record ever in The Bahamas. IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry to the thousands of Bahamians who lost their jobs, even though the PLP promised 10,000 jobs in their first year.

The sad truth is that the highest period of unemployment ever experienced in the history of The Bahamas occurred not under just any PLP administration. It happened under this PLP administration! It happened on Perry Christie’s watch!

IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry for wasting millions upon millions of VAT money. We still don’t know where the VAT money gone!

Last week, Brave Davis, one of the comedians in the PLP, tried to explain away $400 million dollars the PLP can’t account for. You know what his excuse was? They spent the money because of the hurricanes. WELL MUDDA SIC!

First Michael Halkitis said that plenty of the VAT money was spent on big things the government has only promised to pay for in the future. Now all of a sudden Brave has another excuse that smells like a certain fertilizer.

IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry about the absolute mess they made at BAMSI. The FNM will fix BAMSI and get it right. IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry for the corruption at Urban Renewal, and the scandals at the Bank of The Bahamas. IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry for going against the results of the gambling referendum. The people said no but like a dictator Christie ignored the will of the people. IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry for spying on Bahamians through the National Intelligence Agency. And, of course, it is WAY TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry about the dump fire.

Just like the PLP exposed Bahamians to danger and potential health problems with the Rubis oil leak -- they let the situation at the dump get way out of control. Someone working at the dump told me they never seen it so bad there.

By the way, Christie only said sorry for sticking his middle finger up at the Bahamian people because someone took a picture. If there wasn’t a picture, he never would have apologized. The truth is that Christie and the PLP ain’t sorry for nothing. If they get five more years they will be even worse. They don’t know the meaning of “sorry”!

IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry! IT’S TIME TO VOTE THEM OUT.

Fellow Bahamians:

Getting Baha Mar opened is about the livelihoods, jobs and economic opportunities for thousands of Bahamians and their families. What we should be working toward at Baha Mar, is long term gains for everyone, not short term political gain for one party. A website that tracks developments at Baha Mar stated in August last year:

“A report on the economic impact of the stalled [Baha Mar] project claims that The Bahamas missed out on $2 billion in gross domestic product over 18 months due to the construction halt. This includes $1 billion in direct revenue, and $315 million in taxes and $451.3 million in salaries and wages.”

Go get that money back Perry. THEN WE CAN TALK. Get back the $451 million in loss salaries and wages for thousands of employees and their families. THEN WE CAN TALK!

Get back the money those employees would have used to take care of their children, to buy groceries, to pay their light bill, to buy medicine. THEN WE CAN TALK. Get back the $315 million in taxes. THEN YOU CAN TALK.

All of this massive loss of salaries and wages for Bahamians, and revenue for the government, is the direct fault of the incompetence and mismanagement by Christie and the PLP. After destroying the livelihoods of thousands of Bahamians, Christie and the PLP want the Bahamian people to praise them because they are going to have a pretend opening of Baha Mar. Shame on you Christie! Shame on you! And, it’s too late to say you sorry.

The full opening of Baha Mar may not happen for some time under the PLP. The so-called April opening is a public relations gimmick for the PLP. With less than a month before the so-called opening of Baha Mar, you can’t make a reservation to stay at the resort. If you go to the Baha Mar website you can’t make a reservation. If a reservation cannot be made at the Baha Mar website, for all intents and purposes the resort is not open for business. It is not open for travel agents. It is not open for tourists. Baha Mar is not open for business. It is open only in the minds of Christie and the PLP. We need a real opening that will employ thousands of Bahamians.

If the FNM was in charge, thousands of Bahamians would now be working at Baha Mar for the past two years and four months. The PLP promised to unseal the deal before Baha Mar opens. This is very cute because they have now made many announcements about when Baha Mar will open. Remember that Baha Mar was supposed to open in December 2014. This is now March 2017, two years and four months later. In December 2015, Christie said he saw an early 2016 completion of Baha Mar. It is now almost April 2017 and the resort isn’t completed.

The Bahamian people can’t trust what Christie says about Baha Mar. Very little of what Christie has said about the completion or opening dates has come true. Not a single one of Christie’s announcements about opening dates has come true. So, why should we believe the grand promises they are now making? Just like the PLP is not being honest with the Bahamian people about other things, they are doing the same with Baha Mar.

Don’t forget, they promised to tell you about the two percent deal with BTC. NOTHING HAPPENED! They promised to tell you about the BAMSI deal. NOTHING HAPPENED!! What about the Bank of The Bahamas? Nothing! Rubis leak. Nothing!

FNMs:

I am not surprised that Emperor Christie continues to believe that governing has more to do with speaking and little to do with doing. He has run the most talkative and least productive government in the history of The Bahamas.

At every stage in my life when he was talking, I was doing. Maybe one day Christie will understand that there is a difference between campaigning and governing. Maybe one day Christie will come to understand that no one is listening to him anymore. He does not have a track record of failing to speak. Nobody can beat him talking. He has a track record of failing to do anything while wasting the people’s time and money.

I am proud of having a track record of doing much but talking little. This is precisely what the Bahamian people desperately need today.

Enough talk Perry! Go do some work!

Being prime minister requires many traits. As prime minister, I will bring a strong ethic of hard work. I may not be a fancy talker, but I’m genuine. I will give you straight talk, not fairy tales and make-believe. My government will boldly and resolutely embark on a new era of reform and modernization for a 21st Century Bahamas.

Unlike Christie, I will be fully in charge of my cabinet! I will bring direction and focus, qualities Christie sorely lacks. I will bring discipline to government--something Christie is incapable of doing. I will not run a ‘late-again’ government. Unlike Christie, my administration will be decisive.

Unlike Christie, I will be in charge of my government. The poor and disadvantaged will be front and center in a Hubert Minnis administration. My government will not waste the VAT money and other revenue on lavish travel, Carnival and massive waste by ministers. Carnival will be privatized. My government wouldn’t even dream of giving away 20,000 acres in Andros to foreigners.

The FNM will not allow foreigners to do commercial fishing in our waters. Unlike the PLP, my government will be accountable and transparent. I will expose the PLP’s wheeling and dealing over the past five years. WE WILL WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

FNMs; Fellow-Bahamians:

Remember when the PLP talked about the Gold Rush last time? Remember that? It was a Gold Rush all right. They rushed to get the gold for themselves, for their friends and for their families. THE GOLD WAS NOT FOR YOU.

Despite his terrible record, Cotton Candy Christie is brazen and arrogant enough to say that the country needs him. Talk about delusional. Child please! Christie is so delusional and mixed up that he couldn’t even find his way to the microphone at a PLP event the other night. Christie no longer has the energy and strength to lead this country.

I am not by nature a loud man like Christie. But I am a man of great resolve and great determination, with the energy and strength to lead the FNM in rescuing and restoring our Bahamas.

Brothers and Sisters:

The PLP understood how their promises last time would win votes. This time around they will come with even more big promises; promises that they will never keep. But we won’t be fooled this time because:

It’s the People’s Time.

Whose time is it?

Whose time is it?

Keep the torch high and keep the fire burning! The time for sorry and excuses is over! It is time to vote them out! It is time for change! It’s the People’s Time!

FNM!.....FNM!....FNM!....

Let us continue to seek God’s guidance.

Thank you and good night.

Remarks

Honorable Dr. Hubert Minnis

Leader of the Free National Movement

South-Eastern New Providence Rally

Tuesday 28 March 2017

It’s Too Late for the PLP to Say Sorry

F-N-Ms, F-N-Ms:

Good evening. When I look at this crowd, all I can say is:

It’s the People’s Time!

It’s the People’s Time!

It’s the People’s Time!

Are you ready to Roc with Doc?

Brave Davis put out a press release last week saying how supposedly impressed the world is with Perry Christie. That had to be a joke. I don’t know what world Brave living in. It’s probably the world of make-believe because most of us are living in the real world of the hell the PLP has put on the Bahamian people.

Of course, this is the same Brave who was trying to get rid of Christie for the past five years, and who can’t stand Christie. I hear sometimes the two of them barely talk to each other.

The students and faculty of the University of The Bahamas aren’t impressed by Christie. Only about 15 people turned up to listen to him last week. I hear they had to go looking in the hallways to find people. Some of them were so unimpressed that they were on their cell phones while he was talking. Just like most Bahamians, they have tuned Christie out. People are tired of listening to Christie and all his empty talk and foolishness. Faculty often assign students to listen to certain guest speakers. Not only didn’t this seem to happen. The faculty also abandoned Christie in droves.

Young people are sick and tired of Christie. Women are sick and tired of Christie. Men are sick and tired of Christie. The message to Christie is: Not again! Not Again! Not again!

FNMs:

We were in Cat Island over the weekend. The people there say they are ready for change. They asked me if Nassau ready for change. Are you ready for change? I can’t hear you! Are you ready?!

Is Nassau Village ready for change? Dion Smith gone, gone, gone. I was in Nassau Village last week. The support was overwhelming. The people there tell me they are going to Roc with Doc!

Halson Moultrie will serve you well. He will serve you much better than Dion Smith, who has not served you well in government. The PLP has absolutely neglected Nassau Village.

South Beach is rock solid. Jeff Lloyd will bring valuable experience to government, especially in education and youth development. People in South Beach are telling me that there is no contest between Cleola and Jeff. South Beach is ready for change.

Marathon, let me hear you. Romi Ferreira is our change agent in Marathon. Marathon desperately needs change. Jerome Fitzgerald is one of the most arrogant and disgusting people in the House. Jerome never cared about Marathon. He only cares about his political ambition and protecting the PLP. He is a threat to the health, security and privacy of the Bahamian people. He engaged in a cover-up of the Rubis oil leak. He was willing to put the lives of potentially thousands of people at risk. WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

How can you trust a man like Jerome Fitzgerald, who used the floor of the House of Assembly to read people’s private emails – emails that could only have been acquired by someone by illegal means? WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

When Allyson Maynard Gibson conveniently flew out of the country, Jerome acted for her as Attorney General. He signed that nolle letting Allyson’s former client get off scot-free. WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE ROT. Jerome is one of the worst of the bunch. He has to go. We have to weed out the rot of the PLP.

Reuben Rahming is our change agent in Pinewood. He is a part of our change team which will have a more comprehensive approach to fighting crime. Pinewood also needs improvements to infrastructure, which the PLP and Khaalis Rolle have ignored.

I hear that Khaalis is fed right up with Perry Christie, and very unhappy about the direction of the country under the PLP.

Renward Wells will keep Bamboo Town FNM. As I’ve said before: A vote for the DNA is a vote for the PLP. If you go to bed with the DNA you will wake up with the PLP. Bran can’t win Bamboo Town and the DNA can’t win the election. If you want to get rid of the PLP you have to vote for Renward and you have to vote FNM.

FNMs:

In response to some of the things Cotton Candy Christie is saying about me, one of the newspapers offered him this advice:

“We give this hint to Christie in the simplest language: We want to be saved from you.”

“We know [Christie] has nothing left to give The Bahamas. He has lost the magic. Unable to focus, he drifts from crisis to crisis …

“If Christie is reelected prime minister the status quo will remain. There will be high crime; there will be a high unemployment rate; there will be incoherence coming out of the Office of the Prime Minister; the corruption that we see today will be a joke.

“If the PLP’s message is that Christie is needed to save The Bahamas, we can tell that party now that that message will fail.”

Fellow Bahamians:

You know, many times people only say sorry when they get caught. But, IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry. IT’S TOO LATE for them to say sorry about 600 murders on their watch, and the worse crime record ever in The Bahamas. IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry to the thousands of Bahamians who lost their jobs, even though the PLP promised 10,000 jobs in their first year.

The sad truth is that the highest period of unemployment ever experienced in the history of The Bahamas occurred not under just any PLP administration. It happened under this PLP administration! It happened on Perry Christie’s watch!

IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry for wasting millions upon millions of VAT money. We still don’t know where the VAT money gone!

Last week, Brave Davis, one of the comedians in the PLP, tried to explain away $400 million dollars the PLP can’t account for. You know what his excuse was? They spent the money because of the hurricanes. WELL MUDDA SIC!

First Michael Halkitis said that plenty of the VAT money was spent on big things the government has only promised to pay for in the future. Now all of a sudden Brave has another excuse that smells like a certain fertilizer.

IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry about the absolute mess they made at BAMSI. The FNM will fix BAMSI and get it right. IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry for the corruption at Urban Renewal, and the scandals at the Bank of The Bahamas. IT’S TOO LATE to say sorry for going against the results of the gambling referendum. The people said no but like a dictator Christie ignored the will of the people. IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry for spying on Bahamians through the National Intelligence Agency. And, of course, it is WAY TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry about the dump fire.

Just like the PLP exposed Bahamians to danger and potential health problems with the Rubis oil leak -- they let the situation at the dump get way out of control. Someone working at the dump told me they never seen it so bad there.

By the way, Christie only said sorry for sticking his middle finger up at the Bahamian people because someone took a picture. If there wasn’t a picture, he never would have apologized. The truth is that Christie and the PLP ain’t sorry for nothing. If they get five more years they will be even worse. They don’t know the meaning of “sorry”!

IT’S TOO LATE for the PLP to say sorry! IT’S TIME TO VOTE THEM OUT.

Fellow Bahamians:

Getting Baha Mar opened is about the livelihoods, jobs and economic opportunities for thousands of Bahamians and their families. What we should be working toward at Baha Mar, is long term gains for everyone, not short term political gain for one party. A website that tracks developments at Baha Mar stated in August last year:

“A report on the economic impact of the stalled [Baha Mar] project claims that The Bahamas missed out on $2 billion in gross domestic product over 18 months due to the construction halt. This includes $1 billion in direct revenue, and $315 million in taxes and $451.3 million in salaries and wages.”

Go get that money back Perry. THEN WE CAN TALK. Get back the $451 million in loss salaries and wages for thousands of employees and their families. THEN WE CAN TALK!

Get back the money those employees would have used to take care of their children, to buy groceries, to pay their light bill, to buy medicine. THEN WE CAN TALK. Get back the $315 million in taxes. THEN YOU CAN TALK.

All of this massive loss of salaries and wages for Bahamians, and revenue for the government, is the direct fault of the incompetence and mismanagement by Christie and the PLP. After destroying the livelihoods of thousands of Bahamians, Christie and the PLP want the Bahamian people to praise them because they are going to have a pretend opening of Baha Mar. Shame on you Christie! Shame on you! And, it’s too late to say you sorry.

The full opening of Baha Mar may not happen for some time under the PLP. The so-called April opening is a public relations gimmick for the PLP. With less than a month before the so-called opening of Baha Mar, you can’t make a reservation to stay at the resort. If you go to the Baha Mar website you can’t make a reservation. If a reservation cannot be made at the Baha Mar website, for all intents and purposes the resort is not open for business. It is not open for travel agents. It is not open for tourists. Baha Mar is not open for business. It is open only in the minds of Christie and the PLP. We need a real opening that will employ thousands of Bahamians.

If the FNM was in charge, thousands of Bahamians would now be working at Baha Mar for the past two years and four months. The PLP promised to unseal the deal before Baha Mar opens. This is very cute because they have now made many announcements about when Baha Mar will open. Remember that Baha Mar was supposed to open in December 2014. This is now March 2017, two years and four months later. In December 2015, Christie said he saw an early 2016 completion of Baha Mar. It is now almost April 2017 and the resort isn’t completed.

The Bahamian people can’t trust what Christie says about Baha Mar. Very little of what Christie has said about the completion or opening dates has come true. Not a single one of Christie’s announcements about opening dates has come true. So, why should we believe the grand promises they are now making? Just like the PLP is not being honest with the Bahamian people about other things, they are doing the same with Baha Mar.

Don’t forget, they promised to tell you about the two percent deal with BTC. NOTHING HAPPENED! They promised to tell you about the BAMSI deal. NOTHING HAPPENED!! What about the Bank of The Bahamas? Nothing! Rubis leak. Nothing!

FNMs:

I am not surprised that Emperor Christie continues to believe that governing has more to do with speaking and little to do with doing. He has run the most talkative and least productive government in the history of The Bahamas.

At every stage in my life when he was talking, I was doing. Maybe one day Christie will understand that there is a difference between campaigning and governing. Maybe one day Christie will come to understand that no one is listening to him anymore. He does not have a track record of failing to speak. Nobody can beat him talking. He has a track record of failing to do anything while wasting the people’s time and money.

I am proud of having a track record of doing much but talking little. This is precisely what the Bahamian people desperately need today.

Enough talk Perry! Go do some work!

Being prime minister requires many traits. As prime minister, I will bring a strong ethic of hard work. I may not be a fancy talker, but I’m genuine. I will give you straight talk, not fairy tales and make-believe. My government will boldly and resolutely embark on a new era of reform and modernization for a 21st Century Bahamas.

Unlike Christie, I will be fully in charge of my cabinet! I will bring direction and focus, qualities Christie sorely lacks. I will bring discipline to government--something Christie is incapable of doing. I will not run a ‘late-again’ government. Unlike Christie, my administration will be decisive.

Unlike Christie, I will be in charge of my government. The poor and disadvantaged will be front and center in a Hubert Minnis administration. My government will not waste the VAT money and other revenue on lavish travel, Carnival and massive waste by ministers. Carnival will be privatized. My government wouldn’t even dream of giving away 20,000 acres in Andros to foreigners.

The FNM will not allow foreigners to do commercial fishing in our waters. Unlike the PLP, my government will be accountable and transparent. I will expose the PLP’s wheeling and dealing over the past five years. WE WILL WEED OUT THE ROT OF THE PLP.

FNMs; Fellow-Bahamians:

Remember when the PLP talked about the Gold Rush last time? Remember that? It was a Gold Rush all right. They rushed to get the gold for themselves, for their friends and for their families. THE GOLD WAS NOT FOR YOU.

Despite his terrible record, Cotton Candy Christie is brazen and arrogant enough to say that the country needs him. Talk about delusional. Child please! Christie is so delusional and mixed up that he couldn’t even find his way to the microphone at a PLP event the other night. Christie no longer has the energy and strength to lead this country.

I am not by nature a loud man like Christie. But I am a man of great resolve and great determination, with the energy and strength to lead the FNM in rescuing and restoring our Bahamas.

Brothers and Sisters:

The PLP understood how their promises last time would win votes. This time around they will come with even more big promises; promises that they will never keep. But we won’t be fooled this time because:

It’s the People’s Time.

Whose time is it?

Whose time is it?

Keep the torch high and keep the fire burning! The time for sorry and excuses is over! It is time to vote them out! It is time for change! It’s the People’s Time!

FNM!.....FNM!....FNM!....

Let us continue to seek God’s guidance.

Thank you and good night.

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