I want to thank you for inviting me here to this inaugural forum. I hope that it provides some stimulation and exchange of ideas for what must quite a difficult time of transition for many people who support the Progressive Liberal Party.  It confounds the popular imagination how a Government that has done so much for so many in so many in so short a time could be rewarded in the way it ahs.  And yet in these days and times that is what we are faced with.   I know that this forum is a signal to the country to never say die, and never say die I will.

Jeffrey Thompson who was the country’s first Minister of development in the majority rule Government of Sir Lynden Pindling in 1967 was a font of knowledge about the history of the early years of the PLP government.  He told me once that one of the reasons he believed that the PLP was successful at defeating the United Bahamian party in 1967 was the unique bonding and bonds that built up between those men and women as they fought for majority rule.

Once the National Committee for Positive Action (NCPA) had obtained control over the organization of the party, the young Turks were in charge.  He was one of them, and he describes a situation where in throes of the defeat of the PLP in 1962, they stuck together, they talked to one another virtually every day.  They knew each other’s innermost thoughts.  I must confess that I think that will probably be the salvation of the present situation in which the PLP now finds itself.  In seeking to find answers and in plotting away forward, it seems to me most important not to get angry with one another but to bond even closer together in the face of an ever present danger.

There is no mistake about it, the UBP is back with a vengeance, and they have an adept Uncle Tom who is willing to use the knife to slash and burn without discrimination in order to accomplish their ends.  There is nothing that I can think of that would not be done by this individual to maintain power and to destroy the PLP.  Whether we want to believe it or not, that is the unvarnished truth.

I am amused these days as I sit in the House of Assembly and watch those filled with the heady wine of new found power flex their muscles.  But what is interesting is that which I have always said and I always believe, those who have power, those who are in the majority, need the minority in order to feel powerful.  In order for there to be rich people, there must be poor people.  And so those who have new found power are in need of and hungry for the day that those they perceive to have defeated will acknowledge them as the winners and the Lords of the day.

I was virtually assaulted the other day by a Minister of the Government from the FNM who came up to me in the House of Assembly to complain in my face that he had said good morning to me and I had not responded.  He had the temerity, the gall, effrontery to say further that if I did not want him to speak to me, just say so and he would not do so.  Quiet frankly I was speechless.  He had never entered my mind or consciousness and the question whether he speaks or does not speak is not matter of any concern to me.  I will always be civil but what I concerned about is not acting out niceties to some person who spent a campaign telling lies, slander and dispensing vitriol against me and my colleagues, what I am concerned about is that you do your job while in public office.  In other words when I call that Minister, would expect him to respond appropriately and carry out my requests on behalf of my constituents if it is within the power and resources of the government to do so.

You have asked me to make some comments on the speech from the throne. I don’t intend to be very long on this because I believe that there ought to be time for dialogue in the matter.  I do not like the Speech from the Throne being delivered outside in the road.  The Free National Movement started this in 1992 and I sat in the senate then.  I disagreed then.  I disagreed during all my time in the government and I disagree now.  The place for the reading of the Speech from the throne is in the Senate building.  That is where it was when I was youngster and I should be returned there.  I think this reading out in the street is part of the dumbing down of The Bahamas that the FNM has brought to office.

If there is any need for proof of this, one only has to examine the catch phrases from the recent campaign of the FNM that are found throughout the document.  This business of restoring trust to the government.  First it is inappropriate to put those words there, and secondly I agree with the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie that a government that comes in and is able to inherit an economy in full bloom, with 20 billion dollars of investment either in the ground or on the way, does not have to restore trust because it is evident that there is great trust in the country and there was great trust in the PLP.

I note the comment made about crime in the speech. I think that Shane Gibson did a good job when he spoke in the Assembly on Tuesday and he told them that since they are the perfect crew and know all the answers, they will no doubt solve the crime problem.  The former Deputy Prime Minister who did much to work for the reform of the police, the disciplined forces and to fight crime told the FNM that it was a mistake to make crime a political issue.  The words were hardly out her mouth when there was reported in this morning’s press that there were three murders within the last week, bringing the total past where we were last year.   Since trust has been restored, one can then expect the murders to cease.  But all you have to do is to look at the nature of the homicides being committed; people who get involved in domestic disputes.  In fact one of my colleagues told me that one person killed another fighting over the TV remote control.

I am also concerned about this emphasis on accomplishing a balanced budget.   I was interested in what many of my colleagues pointed out that a balanced budget and the efforts to achieve it were accomplished on the backs of poor people.  The FNM is good at fixing up artificial constructs and making them look like real accomplishments.   The fact is the PLP believed that in a developing economy, you had to be prudent but you must use the resources of the state in order to make life better for people.

This is a matter that is clear and undeniable. The PLP was people focused.

However it is also clear that many people did not buy into the message and identified with the in your face aggressiveness and twisted view of history supplied by the FNM.   When the reasons for the loss are examined one must be able to find the reason why the black middle class felt that many of them could not identify with the party that helped to lift us all out of poverty.  There was this a negative associated with the PLP.

I spoke to one of the members of the Bahamas Society of Engineers about a recent press statement in which they welcomed the new Ministers of Works.  It turns out of course that there was more to this than meets the eye but I don’t want to impugn anyone on the issue. I told him that I objected to the message because I know how much I had worked, Bradley Roberts and others worked to ensure that engineers got their just rewards out of this economy.  I said that the note gave the impression that the PLP did nothing for engineers.  I reminded him of bringing the Engineer’s Bill into force.  Their note said how they welcomed the new Town Planning Act that the government was going to enact.  I said but this is a government who came into office canceling the plans for two major projects that would have kept engineers in work for years: the redevelopment project of the city of Nassau, and the development of a new port at the south of New Providence.  The FNM has cancelled those projects.  Now we also know that they have cancelled the straw market and want to cram the straw vendors into an inadequate building on the Prince George Dock that does not meet the current security concerns of the country. But it appears that there is no critical analysis done of what the acts are.  I suppose once one gets the feeling that you are in tune with the FNM, it doesn’t matter what the facts are, and you just go along with the programme.

I hope that the FNM brings into force the National Heroes Bill; and the National Honours Bill.  These two pieces of legislation we are long in coming and long in design.  They ought to be set up properly so that this year on the second Monday in October we will celebrate National Heroes Day.  It is time that debate ends and that the matter is brought into Force.

I saw that there was a promise of legislation to establish The Bahamas Foreign Service. I look forward to that but I do not think that will be necessary since Foreign Service orders have been drafted and they simply need to be refined and brought into Force.

Thoes are some of the matters I simply wish at this point to high light, and I would happy to engage in any further dialogue or comment with you on any of the matters raised and hear your concerns.

Thank you very much indeed.