The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

“Mitchell dismisses criticism from shadow minister”- The Nassau Guardian 28 April, 2014.

Excerpt from this article: “Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell yesterday dismissed statements made by Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Chipman over a diplomatic note sent to three countries last week”.

“The day I begin to take political advice from the Member of Parliament for St Anne’s will be the day that pigs grow wings and fly,” he said.

It would seem that the Hon Fred Mitchell is in a bit of a political meltdown, again. In a political row that should have ended last week Thursday, it seems that Minister Mitchell has seen fit to breathe new life into it and disturb an otherwise peaceful Sunday evening with a press conference to answer criticism of his mishandling of a somewhat benign matter when most persons had already moved on looking down the road to the next Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) political blunder.

In this press conference, the minister went on what can only be described as an autocratic rant expressing his displeasure with what he called the Free National Movement’s attempts to keep this issue alive in the press not realising that it was he that brought life to an otherwise dead issue.

The Minister went on a rant, complaining that the Hon Hubert Chipman was making his note-sending fetish a political issue while the simple fact was that Mr Chipman simply called the act inappropriate and moved on, but not to be outdone and in an attempt to have the last word, Mr Mitchell called a snap press conference at his campaign office to set the record straight and let Mr Chipman “have it”, I hope that Mr Chipman was watching.

So we are here again, with Mr Mitchell, wherein it seems that he is just unable to take criticism of his actions and reacts with a paranoid schizophrenic version of “me against the world” when faced with it. This very same behaviour was seen in the mishandling of the Cuban detainee situation where he (Minister Mitchell) was successful in convincing himself that the protestors, detainees and anyone that sided with them were indeed “enemies of the state”, this included Bahamians that sought the truth in this matter; a matter still unresolved to date and that has the likelihood of flaring up at any moment, but Minister Mitchell, who seems to be a government unto himself, seems unconcerned about such issues and their potential negative effect on the country.

It seems that Minister Mitchell may have his eyes on a greater prize as he seems to use this office to further his political career, but at whose expense? If Minister Mitchell continues to prove himself unfit to competently carry out his present duties why would he feel that persons would have confidence in him to hold higher office? These persons that feel that he is indeed capable are just as delusional as he is.

ADRIAN RAMSEY

Nassau,

April 28, 2014