YOUNG LIBERALS RESPOND TO CARYLE BETHEL

Young Liberals Chairman Duran Saunders

In response to the campaign of disinformation by FNM trolls including the Torchbearers President 

For Immediate Release 

August 20th 2020

The continued campaign of lies and disinformation by Carlyle Bethel and the FNM trolls to mislead the public by deflection while vilifying victims of COVID-19 is wicked, evil and it will fail.

The enemy is COVID-19 and the government is charged with leading this country through this crisis. To date, Bahamians far and wide are giving the Minnis administration a failing grade for his failed leadership on this critical issue.

No amount of lies, disinformation and deflection can change that. The government must change course if the country is to succeed.

I advise Carlyle Bethel to use his time and energy on persuading the sole Competent Authority to restructure that office into a broad base consultative and planning committee as a good start.

I invite Mr. Bethel to seek to persuade the FNM government to expand the government’s testing capacity and protocol as this is another area where the  political will and leadership are sorely lacking and in need of serious strengthening.

Mr. Bethel would also do well to study the scathing critique of this government’s performance by his colleague Dr. Duane Sands and take action.

The stark reality is that the PLP and Mr. Davis are the least of Torchbearers’ concerns and problems.

Our economy has stalled and scores of businesses have closed; unemployment numbers are at record levels; new COVID-19 cases and deaths are increasing; The Bahamas is ranked last in the world in COVID-19 recovery; the country is on the brink of civil unrest and Bahamians have lost confidence in the Prime Minister’s leadership.

The FNM must fix this dire situation. Deflecting from government failures and vilifying the PLP and its Leader are not the answers Carlyle Bethel.

Bahamians don’t trust the PM because his decisions have caused more confusion, chaos and frustration. The Competent Authority has made a bad situation worse through incompetence.

I openly challenge Carlyle Bethel to behave like the leader his office ostensibly represents. Show honesty and integrity in your public utterances. As your counterpart in youth leadership, I am ashamed of you and embarrassed by your unseemly public behaviour. 

The Bahamas deserves much better than the craven tomfoolery being shamelessly displayed by you and other FNM trolls.

Additionally, the criticism by Carlyle Bethel exposes the bubble that he and most FNMs in leadership and around leadership exist in.

 Cabinet ministers, the general parliamentary team, and FNM officers – much like Carlyle Bethel – want the benefit of public office but not the realities. 

What is clear is that Mr. Bethel knows one dimension of politics: making up stories. If this is the view he and FNM trolls have of the challenge to save this country, they do not understand that Bahamians have matured beyond the narrative they are spinning. The FNM clearly has not learned this will not work. Bahamians want competence that moves their quality of life upward and better. The FNM has not done this. 

Mr. Bethel wants the bright lights but lacks the substance to be meaningful to the majority of Bahamians in a way that should sustain the visibility he enjoys.

Shame on you Carlyle Bethel.

End