11.15pm: That brings an end to tonight's live coverage of the PLP convention. The big talking points were Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key arriving and saying he's “done and finished” with the FNM and Deputy Prime Minister Philip 'Brave' Davis raising the issue of national service.
Don't miss Wednesday's Tribune for full coverage and reaction from the first night's events.
11.12pm: He says “we're not like the other side. We don't dance on stage together one night and stab each other in the back the next”.
11.10pm: Still on the subject of crime, the Deputy PM says it's time to look at a national service proposal.
11.05pm: There's applause for Mr Davis as he says “a gang is no replacement for a family”. He says the answers to our crime problem aren't going to come from one source.
11.00pm: He says the govt has built many thing, but he is most proud of Urban Renewal 2.0. He says “we can't afford to turn back the clock and stop this country's progress.”
10.55pm: Mr Davis says all across the Bahamas “we can show you where the VAT money gone” - and describes infrastructure development.
10.45pm: The Deputy PM ended up with a significant crowd on the stage with him there, singing along to Al Green's “Let's Stay Together”.
10.42pm: Now it's time for Deputy Prime Minister Philip 'Brave' Davis who makes his way through the crowd to the stage.
10.30pm: Video of Prime Minister Perry Christie's arrival at the convention at around 10pm:
http://youtu.be/e81NyWjwFVg10.27pm: He says the Progressive Liberal Party is the only choice.
10.25pm: Dr Darville says he remains optimistic about the future of Grand Bahama. He says a tripartite agreement will create sustainable jobs.
10.20pm: He says the government is about to break ground on the Freeport Community Clinic.
10.15pm: Minister of Grand Bahama and Pineridge MP Dr Michael Darville is on the stage and asks “are you ready to build the Bahamas together?”
10.12pm: She urges the Bahamas to “stay with what you know” and says: “Yamacraw, stay with Mel when we ring the bell”.
10.10pm: Mrs Griffin thanks her Yamacraw constituents.
10.07pm: She says 'this Prime Minister and this government' is leading the charge in working for people with disabilities.
10.05pm: After Mr Christie's warm welcome, the convention is now hearing from Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin.
9.50pm: Prime Minister Perry Christie has arrived and is making his way through the crowd.
9.50pm: Adrianna Knowles is on the stage now, talking about the National Development Plan.
9.45pm: After a speech primarily about environmental concerns, Mr Dorsett ends, like tonight's other speakers, with a message of party unity.
9.35pm: He praises the Prime Minister's “bold vision” which has helped protect Bahamian waters. Mr Dorsett focuses on a “renewable energy future”.
9.30pm: Southern Shores MP Kenred Dorsett is speaking - he says his constituency will be in the winning corner for the PLP at the next election.
9.30pm: The convention has just heard from North Eleuthera candidate Clay Sweeting.
9.07pm: Mr Halkitis says the PLP has been able to double the investment in scholarships for young people, spend millions on roads, hiring doctors, teachers, immigration officers and lists many other examples of government spending ending with the refrain “that's where the VAT money's gone!”
9.05pm: Mr Halkitis says as a result of the government's reform programme, “we have been able to get our finances on a good footing”.
9.05pm: He says the government thought long and hard over VAT - but it was introduced at one of the lowest rates in the world, and customs rates were lowered too.
9.00pm: Michael Halkitis, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, is now on the stage.
8.38pm: He gives a “big shout out” to the people of Golden Gates.
8.35pm: Mr Gibson says the FNM “simply don't want change” and adds “rest assured, the Progressive LIberal Party is there for you”.
8.30pm: Minister of Labour Shane Gibson is now on the stage. He is also harshly critical of the former administration, but says the next three days are not about looking back. He says, thanks to legislation, what happened at Sandals last year will never happen again.
8.20pm: The PLP Chairman hits out at FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis and says the PLP is the only united party.
8.18pm: Mr Roberts hits out at the last FNM government and says Baha Mar will open this winter. He said if it was left to the FNM, Baha Mar would never open.
8.12pm: PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts takes to the stage. He extends a “special welcome” to Edison Key. He says “tell them to put that in their pipe and smoke it”.
8.05pm: The National Anthem gets the PLP Convention underway.
http://youtu.be/jodKnRR-WvM7.35pm: CENTRAL and South Abaco MP Edison Key entered the Progressive Liberal Party's convention hall after 7pm Tuesday to resounding applause, cheers and greetings by members of the governing party at the first night of the PLP's convention.
Mr Key told The Tribune he is “done and finished” with the Free National Movement (FNM) and that party's leader, Dr Hubert Minnis.
When asked if he has rejoined the PLP, Mr Key said: “We’ll see what’s going to happen. I’m definitely not with the FNM or Hubert Minnis, I’m out.”
In December, he accused Dr Minnis and FNM officials of going behind his back and having secret meetings in his constituency about selecting another candidate for the area.
That same month, he was one of seven FNM MPs who wrote a letter of no confidence in Dr Minnis to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, asking her to strip him of his post as Official Opposition leader. Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner was later appointed as Dr Minnis’ replacement.
Mr Key, a former member of the PLP, resigned as a PLP senator in 2005 and later left the party. He joined the FNM shortly afterwards.
7.30pm: The three-day PLP convention gets underway tonight at the Melia hotel on Cable Beach. PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts and others are expected to bring remarks.
Comments
Alex_Charles 7 years, 2 months ago
If key reneges on his retirement and joins the PLP somehow I doubt Abaco would vote against him
Publius 7 years, 2 months ago
Key has held onto that seat during PLP and FNM blowouts. That's how stupid Hubert Minnis is; but we already knew that.
licks2 7 years, 2 months ago
Please give your reasoning. . .at least for pandering to Mr. Key. . .his bent to maintain power. . .at any cost. . .nation, self, friends and credibility? I waitin fer ya reply! And why do you continue to talk as if rocin doc is another one-man-band" in yall party and he is "running" everything from his desk alone? You do know that yoon making no sense there aye? Well why I expect you to provide any semblance of good and honest reasoning when it comes to yinna doc! Lol!
ThisIsOurs 7 years, 2 months ago
"Mr Key told The Tribune he is “done and finished” with the Free National Movement (FNM) and that party's leader, Dr Hubert Minnis."
LOL LOL, Loretta and the five jumped off based on Key's rant now he's up and left them LOL. I wonder if this was part if Loretta's "plan"
TalRussell 7 years, 2 months ago
Comrades! Who other than the "Done & Finished With The Coup" Marsh Harbour MP Edison can walk into the PLP's convention to sing the praises that even the chaos of the PLP is the new normal compared to the wrecking ball surrounding "Reheasa" the MP for Long Island.
There has be sufficiently credible evidence for The Queen to instruct her Governor General to revisit "Reheasa's" appoint as Leader Official Opposition Party.....
But.... "Reheasa" may still get the better Edison and Her Majesty by stealing the show to make her own PLP convention entrance?
Now, wouldn't it be something big newsworthy if Edison and Loretta, does lock arms together and crosses the House of Assembly floor to rejoin their old PLP party - since both are lifetime PLP's?
Comrades I keep warning you that you cannot possibly make this crazy stuff up!
by TalRussell
licks2 7 years, 2 months ago
After she done say how "sheen never jernin" them PLP for nothing? She panning out to be one serious liar in public. . .well. . .she will be no different than the band of brothers she will join. . . truth is something "missing" from the PLP party. . .Lol!
Emac 7 years, 2 months ago
Only in the Bahamas. This old bitch just won't crop out, if only for the sake of the Bahamas. I mean, politicians like the decrepit Edison Key are an international disgrace. They have no shame whatsoever!
BahamaPundit 7 years, 2 months ago
How can there be so many people? A downgrade every month. Junk bond status. BAMSI. Chinese fishing scandal. BOB. VAT money gone! No freedom of information. What kool-aid are these people drinking? Am I alive? Am I a sentient being? I'm beginning to question my own existence. Those must be holograms! Surely Bahamians cannot be that masochistic and perverse. The thought of five more years of Mr. Christie makes me want to jump off a cliff. Yet, these thousand sit so comfortably. This must be the Twilight Zone!
Alex_Charles 7 years, 2 months ago
because we have no proper opposition and Bahamians are the brightest in the Caribbean
Sickened 7 years, 2 months ago
I'm with you. I feel like I'm viewing this from alternative reality. To support this party is very strange.
licks2 7 years, 2 months ago
Why. . .plenty money "geein out" in that party. . .tis called "pocketics". . .
banker 7 years, 2 months ago
Poor Little Edison. And he is little. Met him at a fancy restaurant in the West once. Tiny guy. I towered over him. The FNM put him out to pasture, and now he has sour grapes. There are a a few thousand acres of crown land that I want to talk to him about. He rightly didn't deserve a ratification. So he swam back to the vomit like someone else. The PLP collect the dregs, the rapists, the criminals, tiefs, the wife beaters, the crackpots, the dumb phocques, the sphincter-enlargers, the lawyer cheats -- all of the stellar elements of Bahamian society, and not a patriot one of them. All fer me, baby.
John 7 years, 2 months ago
MURDER is up under the PLP by at least 15%! Unemployment, according to Michael Halkitis was 21,000 workers, when the FNM left office and is at 24,000 workers (11.5%) at present, according to the Department of Statistics. Both the Sandy Bottom Project to add craft to the Defense Force and the effort to replace and upgrade Bahamasair's fleet were started under the former, FNM government and were not plans of the PLP, like V.Alfred Gray is lying to the public about. The largest road project in the history of the Bahamas, that changed the lives of Thousands of Bahamians in New Providence, was started and mostly completed under the former government, yet lying Gray says no other government did any projects to benefit the Bahamian people except the PLP. What about the hospital extension? The revamped cell phone service electrifying the family islands?
John 7 years, 2 months ago
More murders have been committed under Perry Christie as prime minister, than under any other prime minister in the history of the Bahamas. More murders were committed under the PLP government than was committed under all the other political parties in the Bahamas combined, including the UBP! Christie and his government came to power on a platform to fight crime and murder especially. The murder count has already surpassed that of the former government and continues to increase by one every other day with at least four months left in their term. They promised to reduce unemployment but unemployment has increased. How many businesses have failed in the past five years? How many Bahamian families do not have electricity in their homes? Is the quality of life in the Bahamas better or worse after 5 years of PLP rule? Did 'Perry Dem' meet your expectations, yes or no?
SP 7 years, 2 months ago
..“Make The Lie Big, Make It Simple, Keep Saying It, And Eventually They Will Believe It”..
.."We Believe In Bahamians" - "Bahamians First"..
John 7 years, 2 months ago
Who planned and rebuilt the airport? At least mostly...
theplpsucks 7 years, 2 months ago
this country can never move forward when people vote for contracts, deals and $150.00 every five years. This crowd at the PLP rally shows the PLP does not need to be accountable to the people at all. It's truly sad and they know it.
Sickened 7 years, 2 months ago
That's a picture of movie night at Fox Hill Prison!
BMW 7 years, 2 months ago
WOW! What a time we are in for!!!!!!
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