The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The PLP’s convention is fast approaching and party stalwarts are jockeying for positions.

It looks like most of the posts in the PLP will be contested, including the post of chairman, which is currently held by Bradley Roberts. Former PLP Cabinet minister in the Pindling regime, George Smith, told Jeff Lloyd that he is attempting to persuade his nephew, Frank Smith, to enter into the chairmanship race. The elder Smith feels that Roberts’ abrasive, combative, contentious, adversarial approach in defending his party’s positions is outmoded, and is counterproductive in wooing non-PLPs into the fold.

Smith is dead right. Roberts’ belligerent style has turned off many would-be PLP converts.

However, the Whistleblower strongly disagrees with Smith when he portrayed to Jeff Lloyd an image of Frank Smith as being gentle, soft and embracive and as being a polar opposite to Roberts.

His glowing characterisation of Frank Smith suggests that he is woefully oblivious of his behaviour in the House of Assembly between 2007 and 2012, while serving as MP for the St Thomas More constituency. Smith, while an MP, constantly heckled FNM MPs as they made their contributions, despite being oft reprimanded by former House Speaker, Alvin Smith.

Things got so bad with Smith that a former FNM minister decided to file a civil lawsuit against him, over an alleged scandal in the Customs Department Smith accused him of committing. It was at this time that Smith’s name was bandied about as being a possible successor to the then Opposition Leader Perry Christie and a future prime minister. But any objective political observer would be hard-pressed to point a finger at a single accomplishment or one meaningful legislation that he introduced to Parliament or to anything which would warrant him being considered prime minister material. Smith was too busy engaging in verbal altercations with FNM MPs or interrupting those who had the floor. It came as no surprise when he failed to win his election contest. His greatest credentials which were proffered during the time he was being discussed as being a future PM was his light complexion, curly hair and his familial ties to prominent businessman Frank Wilson. Other than those, nothing was said about his ability or talent to lead this country.

You got the sense that the Smith clan were saying to the Bahamian people that Frank Smith should be PM due to his entitlement. The elder Smith’s claims about his nephew being gentle are as asinine as Philip ‘’Brave’’ Davis’ claim that the Ministry of Works created 10,000 jobs and Shane Gibson’s claim that 30,000 jobs were added to the economy.

The PLP take Bahamians for fools. Frank Smith is eerily similar to Bradley Roberts. His manner of repudiating PLP opponents bears striking resemblance to Roberts. Remember, Roberts used to carry on in Parliament just like Smith. One can argue that Smith was mimicking Roberts. Peter is no better than Paul. To remove Roberts as PLP chairman in order to accommodate Smith would not represent an upgrade at all. The PLP might as well stick with Roberts.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER

September 3, 2015.