I wish to start by thanking my fellow contributors- Greg Moss
Oswald Brown, Forrester Carroll and Fred Moss - in achieving a preliminary goal
in the run-up to the next General Election: ridding the good people of Marco
City of the ineffectual leadership of the Hon. Zhivargo Laing! I am certain
they will happily join me in wishing that the good people of The Bahamas will
never be encumbered by arrogant, ineffective leadership in any constituency
anywhere in the country (including Fort Charlotte) ever again !!
In keeping with his well-advertised profile of arrogance and being out of
touch, Mr. Laing gave his blessing to Mr. Norris Bain, according to a Freeport
News story (30th January, 2012). Even after the closing door was hitting him in
his backside, Mr. Laing was trying to pretend he is still a force to be
reckoned with in Grand Bahama. Laing summarized his achievements as 'holding regular offices
hours to meet with constituents', 'helping to solve many issues', 'the Marco
City Family and Friends Festival', 'Senior's luncheons', 'Annual Children’s
Christmas Parties'and 'Back to School Rallies and Giveaways'. I am happy
that these were HIS words to The Freeport News because it shows how
out-of-touch Mr. Laing is. These events could have been the outcome of
any enthusiastic community organizer - these are not things a Member of
Parliament should be citing as 'achievements'! So he was right to
'acknowledge that there were failings' and 'to ask the forgiveness of Marco
City residents'.
What bothered me and should bother the voters of the country most, however, was
his false insistence that the new Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for
Marco City, Norris Bain, is a 'capable candidate' who has his full support. He begged
the constituents to support Mr. Norris Bain and said that he 'hopes that he
does a much better job than (him)', so 'they will be better off'.
There are two things about this - first, this is an absolutely astonishing
admission from a man who has doggedy defended his record while being MP for
MC. Second and more
disturbing, what right does Mr. Laing, a man who has a trail
of political baggage behind him the length of Grand Bahama Island, have to anoint
a successor? Laing was an abject failure in Marco City so if he bestows
his blessings on anyone who succeeds him, the residents of that constituency need
to be aware and so does Mr. Bain because Laing could have given him the kiss of
death rather than the kiss of life. In fact, Bain should steer well clear of
Laing if he does not want to be tarred with the same brush of incompetence and
ineffectiveness that followed Laing and his other two colleagues in Grand
Bahama.
Zhivargo Laing should know when the game is over, cut his losses and exit the
big stage when he has the chance ... instead of hanging around the constituency
he so badly served which will only keep his failings fresh in the minds of the
voters and make it impossible for any of them to follow them
successfully. Be gone Mr. Laing - you were a proven flop in Marco City
and you have no right to anoint a successor in that constituency - unless it is
to continue your failed policies and ensure that the suffering continues for Grand Bahamians!