By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) continued to promote its message that the Christie administration is the “only government” that can take the Bahamas into the 21st century at the weekend, while accusing Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr Hubert Minnis of being “unprincipled, ineffective and ill prepared”.
While addressing scores of supporters at a joint Abaco branch meeting at the Central Abaco Primary School on Saturday night, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he has the “intellect, eloquence and energy” to run the country while Dr Minnis, on the other hand, is afraid to stand on the same stage with him and debate the issues.
Meanwhile, Deputy Leader of the PLP Philip “Brave” Davis scolded Dr Minnis for being unable to “speak in Parliament” and chastised the Killarney MP for “hiding behind his Facebook page” out of fear that the public will know “Dr Minnis has no idea what he is talking about”.
Minister of Agriculture V Alfred Gray told the crowd that if the FNM wins the next election, the party would close the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) and “victimise” PLP supporters.
“I hear the other people have painted the town red,” Mr Christie said. “I just want you to know that we haven’t starting painting yet but remember you have yet to see the day the FNM leader, who says he wants to be Prime Minister, where he can stand here with the Prime Minister and the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party and talk about the issues.
“So people have to make a choice and they must determine whether or not a particular person who represents himself as a leader has the capacity to lead this country further into the 21st century, even though he can not speak to the issues. You have to decide who is best for the country.
“When you look at the team who has been assembled for the PLP there is no choice but to arrive at the conclusion that we have the best team ... I have the intellect, I have the eloquence and I have the energy. Why should we allow the FNM to come in and stop and cancel things? We have to keep moving forward. We have to be able to say that devil is a liar.”
Meanwhile, Mr Davis said Dr Minnis did “nothing” while he was Cabinet minister in the last administration, “nothing” while he was in the Official Opposition and will continue to do nothing if he is elected to lead the country.
“Seriously, no one can even think of a significant contribution he made in all of the years he was a minister,” Mr Davis told the crowd. “Can you think of anything Hubert Minnis did when he sat around the table? One thing? The only he was known for was awarding himself a big fat government contract, that is what he did while he was in government and then in opposition he broke up his party.”
On this aspect, Mr Davis was incorrect. In 2005, a company called Leechez Investments Ltd - in which Dr Minnis has shares - was awarded a contract with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) for lease of its Stat Care building.
The contract was awarded during the first Christie administration, before Dr Minnis entered politics. However, the contract continued while Dr Minnis was health minister and still exists today.
The PLP has called the matter a conflict of interest; however Dr Minnis has said he disclosed his interests to former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham when he was elected in 2007.
He has also said Mr Ingraham told him to have the government move out of the building in question, which Dr Minnis said he did. However the PHA reportedly could not find another building to rent and continued to rent the building on a month-to-month basis.
“Look how he treats your very own (Central and South Abaco MP) Edison Key,” Mr Davis continued on Saturday.
“Now he come to you and ask you him to believe in him when the people closest to him don’t believe in him. How foolish he thinks we are; he wants us to believe in him when those who sit around and was with him don’t even believe in him.
“Recall a senior FNM wrote that if Hubert Minnis were elected he would plunge the country into a national nightmare; that is what they say about their leader. Minnis’ own colleagues, the people who know him best, they said he repeatedly misled them. They said he would say one thing and do another.
“They call it the Hubert Minnis trust deficit, that’s what they call it. He is unprepared and he is unprincipled and that is dangerous because there is a lot of hard and serious work left to do,” Mr Davis said.
“We need someone who knows and understands the issues, not someone who can’t even speak in Parliament and can’t be interviewed on radio or television for fear of making a mistake. That is not someone you trust to negotiate with investors.
“Hubert Minnis, who requires other people to do his thinking and writing, who hides behind Facebook, he wants to represent us, I do not think so.”
Mr Gray warned the crowd that if the FNM is elected to government, the party would “fire and victimise” PLP supporters.
“The FNM will cause trouble for you, they will try to keep you from voting,” he said. “I read the newspapers and I see the comments on Facebook and I see hate and venom being spewed from everywhere. I can tell you PLPs, if the FNM miss and win, PLPs you are in trouble. You don’t have to take my word for it, watch what is going on out there, they want this bad because they want to get at us bad, bad, bad and if you think I am joking watch and see.
“They can’t win, I am telling you, if you read what they are saying they are only waiting to fire some of you. This is not the time to play; they will fire you and they will close BAMSI. “
Comments
licks2 7 years ago
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......................our PM is make people them laugh nah!!! Say the FNM will come after them. . .only the crooked ones though Mr Gray!! Their leader has put many of them into a precarious position. . .some of them are good candidates. . .BUT A VOTE FOR THEM IS A VOTE FOR PM CHRISTIE!!!!
lucaya 7 years ago
Who da hell told sum a yinna perry better wide articulation? Errytime he talks look like ya need go get one dictionary, to look up sum he twisted "and so" after da big words speeches, go man ring da dam bell!
DDK 7 years ago
PLP seem to be taking a page from the recent U.S. presidential election campaign. LIE! LIE! LIE! Run down your opponent so often the public may just begin to believe it. What a bunch of sickos! Desperate times call for desperate measures. They are pleading and pleading for their people to register. Unheard of on such a great scale in past elections!
justthefactsplease 7 years ago
The only thing that scares me more than a Minnis government is a Christie government.
OMG 7 years ago
You took the words right out of my mouth.
John 7 years ago
WoW..someone gat their facts really wrong. The Tribune is reporting that the rally was attended by scores of supporters, others in Abaco says that less than 100 people attended the rally. So who do you believe? Guaranteed they will fly in supporters fro Grand Bahama, Bimina and New Providence next time.
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
One score = 20 ................ scores may mean less than 100 ........ Why is Perry afraid to have open air meetings??????? .......... he is barely able to fill a school room???????? .................. The writing is on the wall for you .......VOMIT!!!!!!!
OMG 7 years ago
We undertand that you don't like the PLP but surely your vocabulary extends to a couple of adjectives that don't include F- - k .
DDK 7 years ago
Oh, come on! It wouldn't be the same without the daily expletives!
TalRussell 7 years ago
by TalRussell
themessenger 7 years ago
Mr. Christie, you of all people should hang you head in shame for having the gall to call anybody, other than most of your Cabinet, unprincipled.
jus2cents 7 years ago
That's so rich! Christie thinks he's an eloquent speaker, not ONE bahamian PM has Ever been a great orator, so why start now?! (Including Pindling) Oh, he can 'Talk the talk' but Christie never follows through with all his fancy talk. Its not the WAY something is said that matters, it is WHAT is said, and more importantly NOT LIES, slander or just saying what people want to hear.
So what if Minnis hasn't got the gift of the gab like Christie with his forked tongue, like some snake oil salesman, and yes, he may stumble on words but at least he is honest.
TalRussell 7 years ago
Comrades! And then in royal moment style PM Christie, steady his balance to stood younger before the crowd to announce he will on April 11, command the 2017 General Election bell be rungs.Be prepared to vote he warned the cheering crowd PLP supporters. The People say time to Vote!
Tis that time rungs the bell cause five years will have run out. There will be no more mandate.
Then the PM turned to speak with his MP disciples. Why are you frightened? Are you still caution faith in me? Not even "Big Bad" Brad, dared make a correction of the reality facing the PLP party. It has been told by some in attendance that the PLP MP's - huddled together and whispered to each other, “What manner of thinking is this PM to take into the 2017 General.... And, will the people - buy it?
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years ago
There is a reason Minnis fears a publicly televised debate with Christie and/or McCartney. He is incapable of thinking quickly and sensibly while standing on his own two feet and has great difficulty in stringing together more than a few words at a time, without resorting to angry outbursts grounded in irrational thought. These serious weaknesses are soon revealed whenever Minnis finds himself caught in a situation where he must react with some spontaneity. He therefore avoids such situations as much as possible, preferring instead to deal with most matters behind the scenes in a closed setting of his choosing; hence his penchant for subtefuge. His ability to get along with people who are quite capable of thinking for themselves and who are unafraid to voice their concerns or opposition to his ideas is therefore very limited. His track record as a politician is replete with failures and no successes. Christie's abysmal failure to rein in the corruption of the PLP government is the only reason Minnis has survived thus far in active politics. But the level of corruption Minnis would likely rise to as PM would far eclipse anything we have experienced in recent history....and that's truly frightening!
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
100% correct. he doesn't react quickly on his feet. Often makes nonsensical statements. I'm not sure he will last five years with so many viable replacements surrounding him.
The alternative is more of the last five years. Cause the DNA ain't winning nothing and they and everyone else knows it.
Our choices are piss poor
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!!
This 2017 election is like the Golden State Warriors vs the Cleveland Cavaliers .......... GSW has a lot of all-stars with a good deep bench (like the FNM)............................ while the PLP is like the Cavs ........... one BIG Star that is tired and fading, several wounded stars............. and no viable bench
And it is clear who will win this match-up this year
John 7 years ago
A score does equal 20 but 'scores' in the plural is seldom used to describe a number under 100. For example four score and ten means seventy, but if you say , 'there were scores of people there, with both 'scores' and 'people ' being plural, then you give the intended impression that there were 'hundreds of supporters' there. And if you were to say, for example, "there were scores and scores of supporters there", you give the impression that there were many hundreds, may thousands of supporters there. The best thing you can do with a lie is continue to attack it until you knock its brains out.
DDK 7 years ago
ninety (sorry!)
John 7 years ago
A question was asked on social media today. Why do white Bahamians come out to vote, then you don't see most of them for another five years? Shouldn't they participate more in the governing of their country. That being said, yes Perry Christie is a much greater speaker than Hubert Minnis and so is V Alfred Gray. Christie and Gray can stand on their feet and mislead the masses and Gray is known to tell lies from the pulpit. As lawyers they are trained to speak convincing, even in the absence of facts and hence the Bible cautions us, 'woe unto you lawyers who put on to the people more than they can bear.' And unfortunately most of our politicians are lawyers and have been putting on the people more than they can bear. Minnis does lack eloquence as a speaker and he would be a fool to agree to debate Christie or Branville McCartney if he know that is his greatest weakness. When the matter of trust comes into question would you choose the doctor or the lawyer?
John 7 years ago
Remember too, Donald Trump was the most effective speaker during the US presidential debates, not necessarily because he was the best candidate, but because he chose to violate the rules of engagement and take his opponents out of their comfort zone. And yes he won the presidency. But with less than 100 days in the White House, almost everyone is wondering what happened to America. Will the Great Wall of Mexico ever get built and is it really to keep Mexicans out or Americans in? The effort to repeal Obamacare has hit a brick wall, so much so that Trump had to withdraw the bill to avoid it getting defeated. His strategy of personally attacking Batak Obama and making unsubstantiated allegations did not help. Then he is now calling China to basically go with him to war with North Korea. The stock market is showing sure signs of having the jitters and his near 50% cut in corporate taxes will definitely spell disaster for US government revenue as it does not guarantee a corresponding increase in business growth. An even smaller cut could produce the same result while keeping more of government revenue intact. Is Trump headed for a train wreck?
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years ago
America is under a trajectory set by 8 years of Obama. A Super Tanker never turns on a dime, even when occasioned by a major worldwide crisis like the Great Recession of 2008/9. For you to believe Trump should have America hitting on all 8 cylinders by now only points to your naivety and political bias. You strike me as someone who may be prone to spending too much time surfing the many superficial agenda driven layers of the internet. You might want to start reading the occasional decent book or two.
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