The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

A LONG time ago, a political expert told me that whenever Pindling was getting ready to throw a colleague under the bus, he would start letting off hints that that person might be his successor for leadership.

The idea was to puff up that individual’s ego and level of gratefulness to the point where they would do literally anything for the leader, even risk their own reputation by doing the party’s dirty work. Needless to say, the rewards that were promised never came and the individual was cut loose soon after he became ‘tarnished goods’.

This story came to my mind the other day in relation to the talk inside the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), that Prime Minister Christie has chosen Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald to be his political successor and that Jerome is being ‘groomed for leadership’.

Over the last several months, Jerome has been on the front lines of everything the government has been doing, from the fight with the judiciary over the Parliamentary Privilege issue, to the compensation for Baha Mar contractors and workers. He is even on the committee to respond to the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew.

I am sure this first-time MP is feeling very big and important right now. If I was him, I would be worried.

If you take a closer look at all those important roles he is filling right now, you start to notice something. With Baha Mar, it was Jerome, not the Prime Minister or the Cabinet, who promised that all creditors will be taken care of. Who do you think will take the heat if this turns out not to be true? The papers already reported that some of the 2,000 Bahamian workers will not get everything that is owed to them. Sounds like ‘storm comin’ and the government needs a scapegoat.

The same goes with this fight between the PLP and the courts. Many MPs had a lot to say about about what was in people’s emails, but only Jerome got himself into a situation where the court ordered him to pay a $150,000 fine. If he wants to know who is dropping items into his ‘political garbage can’, maybe he should look around the Cabinet table at the next meeting.

I have a piece of advice for Mr Fitzgerald: no matter who asks you to do it, do not make any statement on the recovery efforts from Hurricane Matthew - and especially not defending Bahamas Power and Light. I promise, you will catch the heat all on your own. Just like you did with the ‘nolle’, when no one in the party defended you for what was done while you were acting Attorney General. Just like when you were condemned by everyone and their father over the Rubis gas spill, even though keeping it a secret had to be a decision of the whole Cabinet.

They say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Look out Jerome Fitzgerald, the bus comin’. Make sure you are ready and jump out of the way.

PRETTY MOLLY

October 12, 2016