In a move that has become all too familiar to
the Bahamian public, tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, in criticizing his
government colleagues for fighting the Bahamar battle in court, continues to
demonstrate that Prime Minister Perry Christie has absolutely no control of his
cabinet. It seems that PLP Ministers think that they can just pop up and say
anything, even when it conflicts with the announced policy of the government.
The tourism Minister’s utterance is but the
latest in a litany of rogue statements and positions made or taken by members
of the Christie cabinet that appears to
be at odds with the position of the government in which they are members, to
wit: the National Security Minister addressing the nation without the knowledge
of the Prime Minister; Minister Wilchcombe advancing a position on the gaming
laws in a surprise announcement in the House; Minister Mitchell advancing a “personal
position” in Trinidad on the LGBT issue while travelling as a Minister; Minister
Gray’s alleged interference with the judiciary; Minister Mitchell (expressing
“personal” views) threatening to expel developer Sarkis Izmirlian from the
country and Minister Gibson (expressing “personal” views) suggesting
psychological evaluations for international investors, we presume, including
Mr. Izmirlian; and, notoriously, Minister of State Gomez suggesting that there
are corrupt members of the government, and that the government is unwilling or
unable to deal with corruption in its midst!
The Bahamian people should be concerned that the
PLP government under Mr. Christie’s weak leadership appears to be publicly and
obviously confused and divided about its strategy of dealing with matters of
national importance such as the Bahamar issue and that the government is
unlikely to be able to bring such matters to a speedy and positive resolution.
Perry Christie, faced with such disunity,
indiscipline and breaches of the cardinal principle of Collective
Responsibility, has nothing to say to the Nation and dances his ridiculous
“Perry Shuffle”, while The Bahamas suffers another damning downgrade by
international ratings agencies. These instances of weak governance and loss of
control all contribute towards the “institutional weaknesses” in Christie’s
Bahamas, mentioned by Standard & Poor’s in their downgrade report
(specifically in reference to the Bahamian Court proceedings), and which is
beginning to attract the World’s attention.
The PLP continues to demonstrate on a daily
basis that they are not fit to govern the country and the Free National
Movement looks forward to the opportunity to demonstrate good and accountable
governance once again.
