SPECIAL CONVENTION OF
THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY
2nd May, 2006

Four years ago this very night, I stood on Fort Charlotte to claim victory in the 2002 General Elections on behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party.

It was a proud and glorious moment for all of us.  It was the sweet end to a long and punishing campaign.

For those of you who were there that night or who shared the moment with us over the airwaves, you will remember that the very first words out of my mouth were the same words I now send forth exactly four years later :

To God be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done!

However, even in the euphoria of that sweet and magical moment on Fort Charlotte four years ago, we were sobered by the realization that we were only just beginning; that the hard part of our work lay before us; and that our journey had therefore only just begun.

On that night, May 2nd, 2002, just four short years ago, we began our mission of service to the Bahamian people by entering into a solemn covenant with you.

As we had throughout our campaign, we pledged to be a Government for all Bahamians and declared that no one need harbour any fear of victimization under a Government led by Perry Christie.  So said; so done.

We pledged that integrity would be the watchword of our administration and that we would serve the Bahamian people honestly, unselfishly and tirelessly.  So said; so done.

We pledged, as we had throughout our campaign, that we would restore budgetary and fiscal discipline to the management of our nation’s finances.    So said; so done.

We also pledged that we would not inflict any new taxes on the Bahamian people.  So said; so done.

We pledged that there would even be relief from stamp duty and even real property tax relief, especially for young Bahamians buying their first homes and for families living in homes of modest value.  So said; so done.

We pledged that we would re-invigourate the Bahamian economy; that we would follow sound but imaginative policies that would make The Bahamas a model of Investor Confidence; and that in so doing we would attract to The Bahamas first-class developers of world renown to assist us in realizing our plan for economic transformation.  So said; so done.

We pledged that we would re-prime the engines of our tourism industry and bring about unprecedented levels of prosperity from this primary source of national wealth.  So said; so done.

We pledged to institute a more innovative approach to economic development so that with Anchor Developments, Bahamians throughout our archipelago could share more fully in the harvest of economic prosperity rather than having it confined to our cities.  So said; so done.

We pledged that for everyone who was seriously interested in working, jobs would be created in abundance and that for anyone interested in an entrepreneurial career, this Government would ensure that the opportunity was created and the tools provided to translate dreams into reality.  So said; so done.

We pledged that we would breathe new life into vital social programmes that had either languished or perished outright under our predecessors.  So said, so done.

We pledged that we would energise affordable public housing so that thousands more could live in good, new homes at affordable prices.  So said; so done.

We pledged to set about laying the foundations for a programme of national health insurance so that we could eliminate the morally horrendous reality that far too many people die simply because they cannot afford the cost of medical care.    So said; so done.

We also pledged that however daunting the challenges were - and still are- we would resolutely strive to make The Bahamas a safer and more secure place for its people and that however long it might take to win the war, we would remain focused on freeing our nation from the grip of crime and the clutches of illegal immigration.  So said; so done.

We also pledged that we would transform the way we were governed by moving away from the “one-man-knows-everything” style of rulership to a new model of governance emphasizing the critical importance of consultation and consensus-building to the processes of decision-making and policy formation.

Contrary to what some others may have thought, no one man has all the answers!  No one person has all the wisdom!  No, each of us has something to contribute.  Every one of you has something to add to the dialogue and discourse out of which national consensus is formed.  This is what enlightened and progressive societies aspire to all around the world.  It is what distinguishes the democrat from the dictator.  It is what separates the PLP from the rest of the pack.  This Government is a team of committed men and women working together in harmony and with common purpose for the greater good of the Bahamian people.   Yes, this is a team, not a one-man band!

Such, then, were the main pledges contained in the solemn covenant we entered into with you, the Bahamian people, when you handed the reins of governance to us four years ago tonight.

Over the course of this evening, you will be hearing from my Ministers and me as to how we have met and are continuing to meet that covenant with you.   In the political order, you are the real bosses.  We are only your servants and as your servants it is our duty to report to you on where we are, four years on, with the mandate you gave us.

Instead of the traditional format, tonight I will moderate a discussion in which various ministers will address different topics of national importance with as much brevity as possible.
 
We intend, therefore, to lay out as concisely as we can where we are at this four year mark; what we aim to do in the remaining months of our current term; and what we intend to do after the General Election.

Yes, indeed the time is drawing nigh!  It won’t be long now!

For the purposes of tonight’s proceedings, let me emphasize that in looking back on our first four years in office, we shall be calling to mind not only our accomplishments and successes but also the goals and challenges that have yet to be realized.   Be assured, therefore, that this is not a night for boasting.  While there is indeed much to boast about, that is not why we are gathered here tonight.  Rather, this is a time for us to pause in our journey so that we can take stock of where we are in the implementation of OUR PLAN for a more prosperous Bahamas, a safer Bahamas, a better Bahamas for all our people.

By the time the evening is done it will have been made clear to all of you - even the most cynical and distrusting of all our brothers and sisters who may be listening and watching by radio or television - that this Government, this PLP Government I have the honour to lead, is a Government that takes its pledges seriously and has the record to prove it.

What a contrast this is to those others who, without shame, once again come before you, to demand the keys to the house of power, even though they promised you they were gone for good!   For such persons, pledges are only words, empty words, to be used to trick and deceive.  For such persons pledges are made only to take advantage and promises are made only to be broken.

Imagine having the gall to pledge that you’ll only serve for two terms and then after your two terms are up, you say you are gone, you take all that money from the Treasury – the people’s money - but then you do a 360 degree turn and say “Hey, I was only joking! I’m back!”

If a person can break a pledge to you on a matter as fundamental as that, how in the world can you take any pledge that he makes about anything with any kind of seriousness?

But I leave such people to the certain and inevitable judgment of the Bahamian people.  Since some people don’t know how to retire, the Bahamian people, come the next General Election, will have to teach them how it’s done – only this time, it will be: once and for all and forever; Amen!

Ladies and Gentlemen, with that I now turn to the main business of the evening and invite you to listen closely as we present this report to you at this four year milestone in the first term of our administration.

The time is now not far off when we shall once again be called to the field of battle to defend the gains we have made for our people during our first term in office.

We must therefore prepare ourselves.  We must put ourselves in readiness for the coming conflict.  We must take nothing for granted.  We must leave nothing to chance.

All our candidates will soon be in the field, primed and ready to take our party’s message into every home in every constituency in every island of our Commonwealth, from Inagua to Bimini.

And what a compelling message it is!

It is a message of faith in ourselves as a people and hope for our nation as it continues to grow.

It is a message that speaks to our conviction that this land we live in and love so much is a place of limitless opportunity and potential, blessed beyond measure by our Creator.

It is a message that with all our problems, be they however great, we are still the best little country in the world and that there is nowhere else in this wide open world we would rather be.

We are determined to enlarge upon the successes of our first four years because we honestly believe that our best years as a nation and as a people are still ahead of us.

I invite all of you, therefore, to join with me, to join with my colleagues, to join with the Progressive Liberal Party, as we continue to march, shoulder to shoulder, in our continuing struggle for a better Bahamas.