Bahamian Politics
"Grand Bahama: City of Broken Promises" - Mar 10, 2014 - 2:47:47 PM

Freeport, Bahamas - The following are remarks made by Branville McCartney, Leader, DNA Party at a Meeting in Grand Bahama on March 8th:
I always enjoy coming too Grand Bahama. The air is clearer, the streets are clear, and that clarity can do wonders for the soul.

I was troubled earlier this week to hear of the death of a 25 year old man who is suspected to have committed suicide, I’m told his name Delano Dorval. I did not know the young man personally but I would like to extend my condolences to his family and friends. His death is sad for many reasons. Firstly, the loss of one life, is one life too many, but more importantly, the circumstances of his passing speaks to the level of despair that Bahamians all across the country now feel...

Bahamian Politics
DNA: Do Our Parliamentarians Condone Abuse Against Women? - Mar 7, 2014 - 7:56:58 AM

Leslie Miller’s recent comments from the floor of Parliament last week speak to an issue that women in this country, and around the world, have faced for decades. The idea that any sort of violence against women has become laughable to the nation’s legislators is unfortunate, unacceptable but sadly unsurprising. Gender based violence in the Bahamas is real. It is a reality with which hundreds of women and girls face every day and everywhere.

Sadly, women who are being abused by their husbands or boyfriends continue to remain silent living in fear of their abusers, many of whom are high profile individuals not unlike Mr. Leslie Miller himself...

Bahamian Politics
Bahamas opposition leader's contribution to the budget debate‏ - Feb 28, 2014 - 5:11:33 PM

Nassau, Bahamas -Enclosed is Opposition Leader, Hon. Dr. Hubert A. Minnis' Contribution to the 2013/2014 Mid Term Budget:

Mr. Speaker, I rise as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition to make my contribution to the debate of the Mid-Year Budget Statement.

I thank the good people of Killarney whom I have the great honour of representing in this Honourable House for the trust they have reposed in me and I thank the thousands of supporters of me and my Party around this great Commonwealth..

Bahamian Politics
DNA: Public disclosure and the need for transparency - Feb 28, 2014 - 5:03:50 PM

The Christie administration’s push toward tax reform and specifically the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) has not only raised concerns about the country’s economic future but has also opened a Pandora’s Box surrounding the issue of tax compliance.

For months, the government has ignored calls from the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and others to focus on the issue of tax compliance rather than forge ahead with plans to implement wholesale transformation of our system of taxation, and now, recent media reports have revealed why.

Bahamian Politics
DNA: VAT is Unfair, Untimely, Unreasonable and Undesirable - Feb 24, 2014 - 1:01:28 AM

Prime Minister Christie in his Charter for Governance 2012 convinced a majority of the Bahamian public that he had all the answers and would solve most of the Bahamas’ ills within 100 days of taking office. This included: Gambling, Crime, Mortgage Reform, Constitutional Reform and BTC majority takeover. There theme was “Believe in Bahamians”. The results speak for themselves. Two downgrades later this government under Mr. Christie can now say even as his partner Mr. Ingraham has confessed: “I have failed.” What can Bahamians expect from this ongoing VAT conversation? More failure! The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Perry Christie’s views have been at best schizophrenic, inconsistent and tunneled vision on the issue of VAT.

Bahamian Politics
Bradley Roberts: The PLP has a culture of tolerance - Feb 21, 2014 - 2:42:05 AM

Nobody should be surprised by the opinions expressed by the Honourable Member for Marco City on the proposed Value Added Tax regime in Parliament on Thursday, 21^st February 2014. The Progressive Liberal Party has a culture of tolerance for dissenting opinions.

Also, this is not unusual for members of Parliament on our side as the party has had quite a few outspoken members on any number of national issues. Some of the younger or new generation PLP leaders are trying to find their way through the world of politics in an attempt to establish a brand and some independence. They cannot be faulted for doing so - as a matter of fact, the Prime Minister is so secure in who he is as a political leader that...

Bahamian Politics
Branville McCartnery: Christie, Ingraham, & Co - Feb 17, 2014 - 7:31:20 PM

While our nation suffers under the weight of the continued political leadership failures of Mr. Ingraham and Mr. Christie; it is increasingly clear that today we need new, strong leadership, unafraid to make the necessary changes that can take our most precious resource (Bahamians) to the first world. Mr. Christie’s defense of Mr. Ingraham, as partners in governance, is critical to the cause of the failed state of our country under Christie, Ingraham & Co. Mr. Christie has failed to keep any of his election promises to the Bahamian people and is now reneging on plans to leave office after two years. He has sold the Bahamian people a political lemon. It is predicted that this failure by the partners to seek competent successive leadership immediately will result in the implosion of the PLP & FNM long before 2017.

Bahamian Politics
Bradley Roberts: The Good News Mid-Year Budget Statement - Feb 13, 2014 - 6:09:15 PM

On behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party, I am pleased to join my colleagues in the government in lending my full support to this mid-year budget statement and the efforts of the Minister of Finance and his team at the Ministry to promote growth in our economy and increase employment throughout the country. It is clear that the government is on the right track. This budget statement is good news for the country and we thank the government for its discipline, leadership and resoluteness.

It is worth repeating, however, that this government inherited a fiscal crisis by any objective measure where the country’s recurrent revenue was under-performing by well over $200 million and capital expenditure exceeded the budgeted amount by more than $200 million...

Bahamian Politics
Bradley Roberts: Butler–Turner lacks moral authority to open her mouth on Web Shops - Feb 12, 2014 - 7:40:17 PM

It is amazing how those whose houses are made of thin cheap glass could find the unmitigated gall to throw stones. One such house of which I speak is the FNM and the occupant is one Loretta Butler-Turner.

I remind all and sundry that Butler-Turner sat around a Cabinet table and approved an online gaming bill to legalize web shops as far back as 2010 - literally years before the referendum. Further, in a Cabinet conclusion she and her colleagues conceded that the FNM government legitimized web shops by accepting taxes and fees from them and that the police lacked the resources to shut down such an operation.

News : Bahamas Information Services Updates
Bahamas PM Christie Delivers Mid-Year Budget Communication - Feb 12, 2014 - 1:39:25 PM

Nassau, Bahamas - The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie delivered the Mid-Year Budget Communication today in the House of Assembly.  Mr. Christie’s presentation is below for review:

I want to open my remarks on this occasion by focusing first on the economy and jobs, for those are subjects that are very dear to our fellow Bahamians. Members will be aware that, just last month at the Business Outlook Conference, I shared my deep-seated optimism for our economic future, across the various key sectors of the economy and the breadth and width of our archipelago. As I laid out in detail in my speech that day, my Government has worked tirelessly over the past eighteen months to promote the further development and expansion of economic activity and the attendant employment opportunities. As I will touch on shortly, the economy is growing and unemployment is declining. We have clearly gotten through the worst of the global crisis and the future looks very bright indeed...

Bahamian Politics
Branville McCartney: A Colossal Waste of Time and Money - Feb 12, 2014 - 12:17:54 PM

In a recent statement Mr. Christie basically admitted that he miss-handled the issue of the “regularization” of web shops. He said he should have regulated the industry rather than allow Bahamians to vote on the issue.

Moved from its original date December 3rd, 2012 to January 28th, 2013, voters overwhelmingly rejected the government’s offer to regulate and tax web shop gaming with 50, 270 people voting against the “opinion poll” and 32,533 voting in favour of “regulating” the industry.

Recently, Mr. Christie said he ought to have “moved immediately to regulate the industry without going to a referendum and to articulate to the people of the country that we were going to have enormous problems trying to have an environment where web shop gaming is not regulated.”

Columns : Letters to The Editor
Sharon Turner: Voting in a Democracy and the Seriousness of It - Feb 12, 2014 - 12:14:25 PM

Dear Editor,

If on Election Day the people vote a government out, but that government refuses to leave - what does it make that government? If a union holds legal elections and the union that loses refuses to leave office, what does that make the defeated union? Think about this when paid public spokespersons and members of the press seek to convince Bahamians that their vote in last year's gaming poll is insignificant and does not need to be respected by the government of the day. The critical issue with respect to last year's gaming poll is not about numbers houses or churches and religion - it is about what the will of the people in a national poll held by the State means in a democracy, and how backwards and defunct a "free" nation The Bahamas would prove itself to be if it does not honor what that means.

Bahamian Politics
Branville McCartney: Failed Leadership Attempting to Keep Bahamas in Quagmire - Feb 11, 2014 - 12:02:06 PM

It’s sad that we hear that our current Prime Minister says he will stay if his counterpart and former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham return. This confirms that the Prime Minister’s intention was to retire during this term or at the end of this term. What does this say about politics in this country? How does such a sad state of affairs reflect on us as a people?

Mr. Ingraham had his time and Mr. Christie’s time is due and yet they cannot release their grip on power. Why is this? You have to wonder!

Mr. Ingraham repeatedly, time and again, said he would run for two terms and two terms only! What happened? He completed a third and now wants a fourth? Words from the past uttered, “no one woman can born a Prime Minister”!

Bahamian Politics
Branville McCartney: The American Security Warning - Jan 29, 2014 - 3:48:51 PM

On Tuesday, 29th January 2014 the U. S. Embassy in Nassau issued a warning to its citizens residing in and traveling to the Bahamas to be aware of their surroundings and remain on high alert to avoid being a victim of crime. The warning stated that “armed robbery and violent crime remain major threats facing U.S. citizens in the Bahamas…In the past eight months, a number of U.S. citizens have fallen victim to armed robbery and two have been murdered”.

This warning was seen by millions of people around the world and indeed this does not bode well for the Bahamas. It is destroying our number one industry… tourism. This warning tells the world that we are an unsafe country, point blank! Think about it, if you were to receive a warning of this nature...

Bahamian Politics
Branville McCartney: Bahamians are NO Fools! - Jan 23, 2014 - 10:57:57 AM

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is incredulously disappointed in the Christie administration, which, as failed negotiations with Cable and Wireless further proves, continues to show no real plan for governance.

Many Bahamians voted for the Progressive Liberal Party on the premise that Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) ownership would be returned to them. They deserve an apology—one from the former Prime Minister for selling the corporation in the first place and one from the current Prime Minister for selling such a far-fetched dream.

Bahamian Politics
This Week in Bahamian Politics - Feb 22, 2013 - 11:48:36 PM

Check here for the past week in Bahamian Politics!

The Bahamas Weekly provides a category just for the political voices of The Bahamas, whether it be the Free National Movement, the Progressive Liberal Party, the Bahamas Democratic Movement, the National Development Party, or a place for anyone to write about their political opinion in The Bahamas.

Read the latest viewpoints or banter right here on The Bahamas Weekly...

Bahamian Politics
Commentary: The chill of government financial irresponsibility - Jan 1, 2012 - 3:15:21 PM

As financial analysts the world over await the outcome of the "negotiations" in the United States to see if they can avoid the so called fiscal cliff - the day automatic tax hikes and spending cuts will kick in - many people believe it will push their economy back into a recession. To unsettle things even more, the fiscal problems have not abated in Europe and right here at home there are unsettling concerns among the business sector and taxpayers.

With The Bahamas debt to GDP ratio approaching 60% (including unfunded liabilities), and rumours of government cash flow troubles, they remain remarkably quiet on plans to help revive the struggling Bahamian economy and avoid...

...

Bahamian Politics
Dorsett: FNM's Disregard for the Law - Mar 6, 2014 - 12:31:45 AM

Nassau, Bahamas - The following is a statement by Kenred Dorsett, MP, Minister of the Environment and Housing:

The fact of the matter is that my statements in the House of Assembly concerning the manner in which the former administration built and assigned houses illegally are correct. The Planning and Subdivisions Act section 62 (1) clearly states, “Any conveyance made after the Act comes into effect regarding lots not granted prior Subdivision Approval shall be null and void.” All conveyances issued for homes from the time of the enactment of this legislation to when subdivision approval was received are null and void. As I stated in my contribution those homeowners who find themselves in this position should contact my ministry so that they can obtain confirmatory

Bahamian Politics
DNA: Silence, Secrets and the Sale of BEC - Mar 5, 2014 - 12:24:52 PM

In August of 2013, PM Perry Christie made grand pronouncements on his government’s intent to completely revamp the country’s energy sector. In a statement, Mr. Christie pledged his government’s commitment to creating efficiencies which would facilitate significant reductions in the cost of energy, increased energy security, environmental responsibility, reliability, and increased competitiveness within the sector. The government further announced its intent to create two new entities; the first of which would be wholly owned by BEC and a second designed to operate under confines of a power purchase agreement with the government. Both entities, according to the PM, would be operated by financially and operationally credible parties or consortiums governed by a series of management agreements.

Bahamian Politics
DNA: Is the Government being bullied or are they the bullies? - Mar 4, 2014 - 11:33:22 PM

In the lead headline of one of today’s dailies, Michael Halkitis, the government’s State Minister of Finance, warned the local business community that the Christie Administration would not be bullied on the issue of Value Added Tax (VAT)

Is it a coincidence that the Minister chose that word to describe the stand being taken by the local business community? By definition to bully means to habitually badger, brow beat and intimidate. Is that not a more accurate description of the way this government has chosen to handle the impending implementation of VAT?