The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I have known and supported the Hon Leslie Osborne Miller all of our lives. He has served the nation well in the political and community areas. Miller has compassion; empathy and a heart for the unwashed masses and may well be some of the reasons why he is referred to as ‘Pot Cake’ A good family man, he has successfully raised his children and established several businesses, such as Sun Burst Coatings & Paints and Mario’s Bowling Alley & Family Entertainment Centre.

Leslie has also represented the former Blue Hills constituency and Tall Pines up to 2017 when the old PLP, led by brother Christie was wiped out. He was not rejected by the good residents down there. Christie fatigue had set in in most constituencies and he, Christie, had to go. In going he took a dray load of PLPs down with him in flames, inclusive of Miller.

As we approach another general election, both of the major parties will be hard pressed to vet and select credible and hard working potential candidates. The ruling FNM would appear to be on the ropes. The opposition New Deal PLP, led by an uncompromised; focused and visionary leader in the form of the Hon Philip Brave Davis, QC (PLP-Cat Island) is poised to recapture the government if Minnis were so much as to sneeze the wrong way. The DNA could play a crucial role in the outcome of the generals but will have to ramp up its efforts. The time for playing doll house is passed.

The upcoming general elections will determine the future of our wonderful nation. Business as usual will no longer cut it. The time for talking shaving cream is over and Bahamians are not looking for that party and leader who will take them, finally, into the long awaited and anticipated Promised Land. After forty-eight years of wandering in the wilderness, eight years longer than the ancient Israelites, it is time to move over the Red Seas (FNM?) and into the fabled land of milk and honey.

The FNM is stuck in a time warp and the Minnis era, if there ever was one, is rapidly coming to an inglorious end while the legacy of the Rt Hon Hubert A Ingraham lives on and will continue into posterity. The New Deal PLP could bounce back, but to do so it will have to be careful as to who it sends to represent critical constituencies such as Tall Pines. The current incumbent is, in my view, a political chameleon of the highest order and is perceived as being politically vulnerable and dead weak.

Should the New Deal PLP send Leslie back or should it ratify Senator Michael Darville, a former MP from Grand Bahama and Minister of Health within the Christie administration? Leslie is my long time friend and sometimes benefactor. The realities on the ground, however, would seem to indicate that a candidacy by him would be fraught with all sorts of unnecessary distractions and issues which would have nothing to do with the New Deal PLP.

Like brother Peter Turnquest (FNM-East End) Leslie has issues in the public domain which must be successfully disposed off before he can or should return to front line politics. I, of course, wish him well but the PLP must put in place a candidate in Tall Pines who comes with no apparent baggage. In the circumstances, I would recommend to the Candidates Committee of the New Deal PLP that Senator Michael Darville be ratified for Tall Pines. Once back in office, the incoming Prime Minister could/should reappoint Leslie to the Executive Chairmanship at BPL & the Energy Corporation.

Yes, Leslie has served the party well and with distinction but in the best interest of the party and the tens of thousands of Bahamians who support it, it is Darville’s time, as opposed to Miller’s time, in Tall Pines. This is no time for sour grapes and selfish behaviour. It is more than just about one man and his dreams. It is about rescuing the unwashed masses, once again, from the greedy clutches of the special interest groups. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

February 9, 2021.