"The PLP responds to FNM on Haiti"

The Progressive Liberal Party remains firmly supportive of the posture adopted by the Government on seeking a peaceful end to the political crisis in Haiti and notes the Opposition Free National Movement’s belated attempt to amend the misguided statements of their leader and now support the Government’s efforts in this regard.

In his mission for The Bahamas and the Caribbean Community at the behest of Prime Minister, the Honourable Perry Christie and in the national interest; Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell has left the country on another arduous round of talks in Washington D.C. and the positive hope of all Bahamians are with him.

The statement of Tuesday 10th February, 2004 by the FNM’s suddenly awakened Chairman Carl Bethel confirms the FNM’s substantive agreement with the Government on all material points of the country’s participation in the Caricom initiative on Haiti.

Ideally, the Government and the Parliamentary Opposition ought to share a joint approach when facing the outside world and the Progressive Liberal Party trusts that the national interest, which is shared by all Bahamians is not again overcome in the FNM by the temptation for gratuitous partisan posturing on this issue.

On the matter of reformatting the conditions under which Haitian labour can be recruited into The Bahamas, the FNM just doesn’t ‘get it’.  The net effect of any change in this regard by Government will mean fewer undocumented aliens, not more.  It would also mean that those that are needed by the Bahamian economy could be repatriated without delay when their time is up.  Any worker from Haiti or anywhere else would need a work permit in their possession when they land.  No longer would individuals be able to get on a boat in the dead of night and turn up at Immigration with a Bahamian sponsor, looking for a work permit.  This can only be a positive development.

The Progressive Liberal Party agrees that the situation in Haiti does not call for a partisan display of politics.  The Honourable Foreign Minister has always committed to brief the Official Opposition in critical matters of this nature and we are assured that such a briefing is scheduled.  Perhaps then, the FNM will ‘get it’.

In respect of the accusation made by the Chairman of the FNM, this Party is one that will at all times insist upon its constitutional right to free speech and will publicly support the initiatives of the Government when we believe that the voice and the opinions of the Party ought to be heard in the public domain.

It is rather peculiar and politically absurd for the FNM to suggest that the fact that the PLP sought to state its position on Haiti and support the stance of the Government amounts to a partisan act. That is both ridiculous and intellectually dishonest.

This Government is proactive, for the first time in history, in dealing with the Haitian problem that has affected The Bahamas for generations.
 
The Progressive Liberal Party finds it necessary to restate for the benefit of the FNM that the policy to seek an acceptable level of calmness in the political crisis in Haiti is in the best interests of The Bahamas as it will likely lead to the significant reduction in the amount of persons who seek illegal entry from that nation to our shores.  That is the simple end product of the policy and that is the only intent of the Government.

If the FNM were paying attention, they would know that:
· the numbers of undocumented migrants intercepted between Haiti and The Bahamas is down, thanks to increased surveillance and interdiction; and that migrants are now being transported directly back on the high seas…
· A figure of $6 million dollars has been identified as a start for the necessary work to enhance the Defence Force Base at Inagua and that funding for that project is on the way…

As for the accusation that the Government is neglecting its domestic duties in favour of working on a solution in Haiti, this amounts to more intellectual dishonesty and a patent untruth by the FNM.

The people of South Andros know that this is untrue as they saw the Prime Minster and the Minister of Health during the official opening ceremony of the clinic in that community.  A clinic, which was built by the PLP before it demitted office in 1992 and which stayed dormant during 9 and ½ years of the FNM administration as they busied themselves in the most blatant and arrogant form of political victimization ever seen in our post-independence era.

Too, the people of The Bahamas witnessed the efforts of the Minister of Trade as he traveled to St. Lucia to attend CARICOM's energy conference in an effort to reduce the price of gas.

The Minister of Labour has been dutifully engaged in discussions with the management and Union of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation to ensure that an industrial agreement is arrived at in the shortest possible time.

These are just three separate examples whereby the Government of The Bahamas has been busy doing the work of the people.   The Bahamian people are assured that this Government is capable of doing more than one thing at the same time

Let us not forget that this ignorance of the impact of foreign affairs on the domestic agenda of The Bahamas is what led the Government in the 1990’s to ignore the obvious warning signs coming from the OECD and related organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and caused our financial services sector to come under severe attack, the results of which are still with us today.

While the broadest national debate and the input of all is necessary and welcome, the FNM would do well to remember that the people of The Bahamas decided some time ago that they are no longer the Government of The Bahamas.
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