PRESS RELEASE
Issued by Raynard Rigby, National Chairman
Tuesday, 30th May, 2006
For Immediate Release
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FNM RIDICULED & CASTIGATED
FOR ‘FAILED, FIZZLED FIRECRACKER’ MEETING
The FNM’s meeting (Tuesday) tonight was an obvious flop. They are scraping the bottom of the barrel for issues. This is not surprising since they obviously have no issues that resonate with the Bahamian people. It is a pathetic effort for a supposedly major political organization to spend thousands of dollars of their money in a public meeting to say absolutely nothing. It was obviously disappointing for even supporters of the FNM.
Each and every point that the FNM attempted to make was nothing more than a repetition of the same old tired and discredited logic which everyone knows is nothing more than an attempt by the FNM and its new old leader to regain political power at any price.
The usually shameless Mr. Ingraham in his performance took shamelessness to a new level. Instead of waiting for the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie to present the National Budget, Mr. Ingraham tried to predict the main points of the budget. Sadly, shamelessly and outrageously, he named the very things that he himself promised during his administration and failed to deliver. For example:
• Reliable potable water to New Providence and the Family Islands – Mr. Ingraham lied to the people of Inagua and betrayed their trust by putting empty water pipes into the ground and promising them potable water. In fact the pipes had been in the ground so long with no water, many of them had to be replaced by the PLP at a cost of more than a million dollars. The PLP has delivered potable water and continues to do so, not only in Inagua, but also in Eleuthera, Exuma, Long Island, and Ragged Island and others, with extended potable water coming in San Salvador.
• The privatization of BaTelCo. To even raise this issue is outrageously shameless from a man who wasted more than $140 million in a rash, ill-judged, irresponsibly timed and ultimately failed effort to privatize the now BTC. Has Ingraham no shame, no decency?
• And how dare the rash, poor planning, impetuous and irresponsible former Prime Minister seek to raise the spectre of adequate infrastructure? Bahamians will not forget that his FNM left main runway 1432 at Nassau International Airport acknowledged in the industry as a “disaster waiting to happen”. His Government’s incompetence almost crippled the tourism industry. The PLP had to spend $40 million dollars to rescue the nation from Mr. Ingraham’s neglect of the airport runway. The airport at Stella Maris also had to be rescued from the neglect of Mr. Ingraham’s FNM. In Abaco, Mr. Ingraham himself promised his own constituents at Marsh Harbour that the airport would be fixed. Instead, they had to wait for the PLP to get a new runway, taxiway and terminal building. It is obvious that Hubert Ingraham has no shame and has no decency. We will teach him once and for all that the Bahamian people do not want him.
In their haste to use politics to distract the attention of the people on the eve of a National Budget, the FNM’s attack on the Government’s enforcement of the country’s immigration laws comes perilously close to national disloyalty. The PLP in Government is inarguably committed to protecting the borders and the national integrity of The Bahamas, while maintaining the proper respect for the dignity and rights of all. It will be wise for the FNM to act as a mature political organization rather than a bunch of scrappy hypocrites who will lie and cheat just to win the reins of the government so that they can continue their acts of corruption, greed and impropriety.
In the days ahead, the PLP and its leaders will put the lie to each and every prevarication, falsification and self-serving half truth sown by Mr. Ingraham, the Triple Dipper and his slavish acolytes on R.M. Bailey Park (Tuesday) tonight.
Now that election fever seems to have gripped the FNM’s new old leader, we were somewhat amused to hear Mr. Ingraham speak of political panic when it is clearly that it is he who is in a panic. Imagine calling a major meeting for the express and publicly promised purpose of announcing and unveiling what we were told would be an irresistible list of political candidates and only to whimper like a failed and fizzled firecracker that the list aint ready.
In fact, it is surprising that Mr. Ingraham and the FNM have the gall to petition the public for support without first publicly purging themselves of the scandals that first caused the public to eject them from office in 2002. Mr. Ingraham and the FNM have yet to explain why Brent Symonette, Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes are allowed to continue on the front line of the FNM when they have long been exposed as poster boys of corrupt practices.
Bahamians will not forget that this is the same new old leader of the FNM who broke his solemn pledge to the people that he would serve two terms and retire. We join the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister in determining to leave such persons to the certain and inevitable judgment of the Bahamian people. We are confident that the people see and know Hubert Ingraham for what he truly represents.
The PLP remains determined to enlarge upon the successes of our first four years in Government and renew our invitation to the Bahamian people to continue the march in our commitment and in our work to transform The Bahamas.
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The Progressive Liberal Party
Office of the National Chairman
30th May, 2006