By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
DESPITE personal convictions that support the Stem Cell Research Bill and its benefits, FNM deputy Loretta Butler Turner confirmed yesterday that she will vote against passing the legislation.
Since parliamentarians began debate, Mrs Butler-Turner has several times publicly stated that she backed the Bill because it was progressive.
However, speaking to The Tribune yesterday, she announced a complete 360 degree turn saying that she would have to vote in agreement with the remaining FNM MPs who do not believe that the government should push forward with the Bill.
“I am a part of a team,” Mrs Butler-Turner said, “and I have spoken with my leader and my colleagues that truly support stem cell, but we are concerned about the perceived influences of the Bill and we aren’t certain that it will be regulated properly. We aren’t sure that this Christie administration will ensure the proper policing mechanisms are in place. So I must vote “no” with my team.
“The bigger picture is not my personal belief.
“My leader (Dr Hubert Minnis) prefers that they have the correct regulatory regime and we aren’t convinced that they will.
“Even though I would have resisted him in the beginning, just seeing and perceiving that Mr Nygard might be involved in the proposals makes me want to tread more cautiously.”
But when asked if she was worried that both FNM supporters and the general public would possibly view her as a flip-flopper, Mrs Butler-Turner told this newspaper that she is concerned only about the best interests of Bahamians.
“No, that’s not my concern. This is just something that we don’t believe will run smoothly. The Bahamian people deserve the best in medical care and we aren’t convinced that they have these regulations set up properly.
“If I vote yes I am going against my leader. If I vote no I am flip-flopper. If I don’t vote then I don’t want what’s best for the Bahamian people. You would never satisfy people,” she said.
Although legislators say stem cell therapy is expected to open the door for medical tourism in the Bahamas therefore creating another stream of income for the country, the debate has been overshadowed by billionaire fashion designer Peter Nygard’s involvement.
The Opposition has linked the progression of the Bill before parliament to what they believe has been a promise to Mr Nygard by the PLP that the bill would be made law. The Christie administration has denied the claim.
Comments
Stapedius 10 years, 9 months ago
I see the party whip has gotten to her. But its strange isn't it, that this MP who loves to point the finger and accuse others of flip flopping is now doing a complete U-turn. Politics makes me sick in this country. Nobody ever votes their conscience it seems. Just a bunch of dumb sheep sitting on the parliamentary benches. This is not even some major issue to have to vote party line on. The reality is both of these parties take huge contributions from some pretty undesirable people. The current PLP makes me quite annoyed. But the FNM is grasping at straws. First, Minnis says we wouldn't be able to police it and that was his major concern. Now they say Nygard is involved and funding it and also made contributions to the PLP. We really have to wipe this country clean of these mindless politicians that have been representing us for far too long. Big economic and crime issues and this is what we waste our time on. Such losers.
Fedup 10 years, 9 months ago
lol couldn't have said it better ........
nationbuilder 10 years, 9 months ago
actually its a 180 turn, not 360; a 360 turn returns you to your original starting point. #geometry101
Stapedius 10 years, 9 months ago
Thanks for the lesson. Smart@#$ Oddly enough, there is a picture of Tommy T when he was minister and a Stem Cell start up in Freeport, in today's Guardian. This is the same party who appears to be totally against it because of regulatory concerns. Yet, they themselves approved the Okyanos project in Grand Bahama. Why hasn't Dr. Minnis addressed that? He was the minister of health at the time. So he approved of it then but, because he is no longer minister or the FNM is not in power he disapproves?
dfitzerl 10 years, 9 months ago
Groupthink is a dangerous thing. I tought we elect MP's to represent their constituents not their party. No wonder we are lost in space.
TalRussell 10 years, 9 months ago
Our British parliamentary system allows any government or opposition MP to vote their principled and moral convictions. Personally, if it didn't I wouldn't sit in the House, if the party's House whip can come along to instruct me, that I had to ignore my own principals and moral conscience by voting team politics. Personally, this Comrade just wasn't born into this world, to hold selective principled and moral beliefs. You either got's them or you don't.
banker 10 years, 9 months ago
So how do you reconcile your moral compass to the fact that your beloved Ping and the PLP were a bunch of drug-running, corrupt criminals who stole the Bahamian patrimony and sold it to the cartels? We still have not recovered from that.
Bahamianpride 10 years, 9 months ago
B.S. u supported the research, your party backed it, now u flip flop feeding us a line of B.S. because U R not in power and the politics of the day tells u its in your political best interest to take the pretended moral high ground.. U and the PLP are waste deep in this pool of stem cell research shit... No time to flip flop, we all know that regulating this is not the problem, this is all about politics and who's in power and scoring points for your team.. We are smarter than that and we're not buying into this PLP/FNM nonsense... Politicians from both sides have been selling us out for years and enriching themselves in the process.. Her lack of Individuality lets me know that if an issue her party supports arrises and its bad for her constituency or morals, she's going to vote with the team...
TalRussell 10 years, 9 months ago
Comrade Banker, Pindling can mean different things to different people, but I believe the name Lynden Pindling is synonymous with giving Bahamaland's natives, black, white and yellow, the freedom to achieve their goals and live the quality of life that never would have been possible under Sir Stafford. Maybe Pindling was not always so great at conducting himself up to the level of expectations we all wished he had. Still when we take a non-partisan glimpse at what Pindling left behind, for ALL natives, it ain't hard to understand the man in his totality. You see Comrade Banker in fairness to Pindling, most of us in 2013 are residual beneficiaries of all the positives he did for Bahamaland. I don't know how some of you can set your own moral standards, but I never thought there was anything uplifting about the moral compass of the Bay Street Boys, whose visible practice it was to keep the majority of Bahamaland's natives economically surprised. Judging by the 2013 "you're backsides is fired" vote, I'm easily led to believe that the natives felt that the red shirts may have had their own policy to "leave no former Bay Street's family behind?" Comrade Banker, if it had not been but for the falling off the wagon by associating with bad company, Pindling would have been a "near perfect"t Prime Minister. But then again, whom among is perfect. You can't be suggesting it was Hubert and his "yes man's" cabinet? i didn't think so.
banker 10 years, 9 months ago
The sophistry is amazing. You say that if Ping didn't sell the country to the drug dealers, he would have been a near perfect PM. Well, that is just like saying that if Hitler didn't kill the Jews and start a war, he was a great leader that lifted Germany out of the doldrums.
Interesting that you had to bring in HAI into the equation. I didn't. But when you take a look at the legacy of Ping, let's look at what his minister Loftus Roker did. The trained foreign teachers were sent home, and replaced with under-qualified Bahamians because they had a friendly face for the students. Our education system still hasn't recovered.
The rich Black segment of society created by the election of Ping have all made their money using the moral compass of the Bay Street Boys, and we all know what that is. So the underpinnings our independence is built on a rotten base. They called Ping "Black Moses" because he was supposed to lead us Black people to the promised land. Instead he gave us Mailman Bowe, Howard Smith, Loftus Roker, Everett Bannister, George Smith, Vomit Swimmer, and a whole bunch of brigands, thieves, low-lifes, boongie bandits (including Ping) and such that it retarded the development of the Bahamas, ate away the social fabric and is directly responsible for the mess that we are in now. Ping gave us nuttin' but a bad example of another Black leader who couldn't keep it on the straight and narrow, and we are now paying for sins of the father. History will properly record the legacy of Ping and no amount of whitewash will clean up his image. The jury is still out on how much we have progressed since that halcyon day in 1973.
scarletplum 10 years, 9 months ago
Dear Loretta Butler Turner, Now was the time for you to stand up and distinguish yourself in the eyes of the people. Instead by joining the herd you have shown that you are not an independent thinker, not an innovator and not a leader. If you had voted your conscience- the power was then in your hands to hold the government's feet to the fire regarding proper legislation- but I guess that was too much work eh? Easier to be Pontius Pilate and wash your hands than be Jesus and get down for the people eh? This country needs leaders who will stand and vote not for party but for the people, for the country. It needs political parties who can make sound decisions that stand on their moral convictions because they are not compromised. What your 180 has shown me yet again is that neither party can stand because they are both compromised. Tell your leader don't waste the people's time bringing evidence on the PLP regarding the five million- until he too is willing to divulge how the FNM financed its campaign. These verbal gymnastics in the house are becoming increasingly ignorant. We ALL know that both parties take money from anyone who will give and these folks get special favors or dispensations later on. Do you recall Kelly's getting the contract for the energy efficient lightbulbs? Do you know how that was perceived by the public? Your party's supporters who are small businessmen? None of it is right- no matter who is doing it- PLP or FNM and don't tell me that that is politics because that is a weak, irresponsible answer. I don't know about anyone else, but I am so tired of party politics as currently practiced in this country and the position that you took today magnified it. I am beginning to believe that you and your parliamentary colleagues on both sides - need to seriously check yourself. Ya'll may not have a literal gun, but i am beginning to think you all are killing this country as much as the man on the street is doing to his brothers.
Bahamianpride 10 years, 9 months ago
I can see that nothing good will ever get done with any of these politicians.. At a time when huge amounts of people are out of work and young people are running around in the streets killing each other and robbing, political retardation continues.. All i see when i read these articles is a future with more crime and poverty..
“The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman think about the next generation” ― Hillary Rodham Clinton
TalRussell 10 years, 9 months ago
Most know I was an early supporter of Comrade Sister Loretta. Mostly out of my long held respect for her family name. Unfortunately, of late she has revealed how she acts and this Comrade is far from impressed. Let me put it this way, unless she can quickly demonstrate something more than she has been dishing out, I will be prepared to let the many outburst in the House and her media releases, speak for what I really thing about her leadership's future. Right about now, Loretta will have to make some serious leadership adjustments, something she sure as hell ain't been demonstrating, before she will regain my confidence. I wish her well.
Bahamianpride 10 years, 9 months ago
We need visionaries and true statesmanship... This however is the movie Ground Hog day on steriods. Her flip flopping, radical outburst, pimp slapping etc, is a reflection of her leadership qualities.. Her, PGC, Dr. Minnis are all terrible in my opinion. We keep digging into the recycling bin and expect different results.. I am still waiting for a true Statesman and Visionary to enter Bahamian Politics, but unfortunately that may never happen because the ignorance of many of our brothers and sisters in the population prevents them from seeing through B.S. They assume anyone giving out free ham has to be the right person for the job.. I support neither party because they are both the same when it comes to oppressing there own people by allowing self discriminating laws and policies to exist.. The country is in terrible need of radical changes including, spending policies, social issues, crime, tax policies, business policies, immigration policies, Labour policies, essential services (water, electric etc), enviromental issues, education and the list goes on.. This Nygard thing is a distraction from real issues and the number one issue is that Bahamian society is Oppressive to the majority of its own people..
raducu 9 years, 5 months ago
I can't believe this! I think she is missing the important point here and is being distracted by other dirty political issues. The fact is this would be very good for us and it would help thousands of people in the future. http://incaltamintecopii.tumblr.com/">!
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