12th February, 2010

Once again on Thursday night, the Free National Movement and Hubert Ingraham showed why they are not to be trusted. In his attempts to silence any opposition to his Government through the Utilities Regulatory and Competition Authority (URCA), Mr. Ingraham abused his power and introduced archaic interim political broadcasting rules to govern the upcoming by-election. They are Mr. Ingraham’s rules. According to those ridiculous rules, political rallies are not to be broadcasted live on the radio.

At a political rally held on 28th January, 2010, Mr. Ingraham said that the FNM would comply with URCA’s political broadcasting rules. I invite Bahamians to listen to the radio stations. The political rally held by the Free National Movement on Thursday night was broadcasted live on several radio stations while HIS rules remain in full effect. It is not good enough to simply say you will follow these nonsensical rules; you actually have to do it to remain credible and maintain any semblance of integrity. Hubert Ingraham is the king of double talk and double dipping and has no respect for our public institutions and our people. A double minded man is dangerous in all his ways. At the opening of the latest FNM headquarters in Elizabeth , he was again repeating that oft discredited FNM talking point that he says what he means and means what he says; the record clearly shows this not to be the case. Through his actions he demonstrates why Bahamians should not trust him or his Government.

We understand that the Free National Movement will be holding another rally this coming Monday. If this rally is broadcast live on radio stations, the internal conflict within the FNM continues and the gap between what the Prime Minister says and does widens to the chagrin and dismay of the electorate.

The Progressive Liberal Party calls on the Prime Minister to explain to the Bahamian people why he is breaking the rules that he put in place and public proclaimed to obey. If the leader of a country refuses to obey the laws he put in place and vows to obey, he loses the moral authority to lead effectively because his integrity becomes questionable.

If he is truly a man of his word, we call on Mr. Ingraham to cancel all plans for live broadcasts of their rally scheduled for Monday night. Knowing the duplicitous nature of the Prime Minister, who has obviously become desperate in his efforts to win the by-election, we expect more double talk, coupled with inconsistent and erratic behavior.