PLP supporters at a recent rally during the campaign.
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
DAME Marguerite Pindling told a rapt audience at Clifford Park on Friday that her husband did not choose Hubert Ingraham to be his heir – and hit out at the Prime Minister for having been “so mean” to the first leader of an independent Bahamas.
The wife of the late Sir Lynden Pindling was responding to a 1997 video shown at an FNM rally the night before, in which her husband described Mr Ingraham as his “most illustrious protégé”.
But Dame Marguerite said not only did her husband not choose Mr Ingraham as his heir, Sir Lynden also “disowned” him.
She said: “It’s completely untrue that Sir Lynden chose Ingraham to be his heir. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“The fact of the matter is that Sir Lynden put Hubert out of the PLP. He disowned him! He cast him off!
“The man Lynden Pindling picked to be his heir was Perry Gladstone Christie, and no one else.
“He never ever anointed Hubert to carry on his work. No, no, no! The man he picked for that was Perry Christie.
“And I’ll tell you something else too, Perry was also Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield’s choice to be the leader of the FNM – not Hubert.”
Lady Pindling also accused Mr Ingraham of treating Sir Lynden “badly” after the FNM won the historic 1992 election.
“If he raised you up and made you his heir, why were you then so mean to him?” she asked.
“Weren’t you the one who stood on this very park in 1992, after you’d won the election, and shouted out to the whole world: ‘The car gone… the maid gone… the cook gone’?
“Is that how you repaid the man who you say made you his heir? My husband and I had to hitch rides in 1992 after Ingraham came to power.
“When the new Parliament met, we got to the House of Assembly in a car that Dr Frank Walkine had kindly loaned to us,” she said.
“I will never forget – and I know Sir Lynden never forgot – how mean Mr Ingraham was to us back then when we were at our lowest point. It was so cruel – and so unnecessary! Mr Ingraham had already won, so why was it necessary to be so ungracious and so unkind?
“Sir Lynden was very deeply hurt by that. He really couldn’t understand it. Neither could I.
“You see, it was Sir Lynden who discovered Hubert Ingraham. The Father of the Nation, the man who had led his country to Majority Rule, the man who had lifted up poor, barefoot black Bahamians like Hubert Ingraham, had to end up fighting for his pension so he could live in dignity.”
Dame Marguerite said Sir Lynden was Perry Christie’s biggest backer and urged PLP’s to support him in the May 7 elections.
She said: “It was Pindling who made Perry his one and only heir to the mantle of leadership. Not Hubert nor anyone else.
“Hubert Ingraham, don’t let me have to come back out here to deal with you again. You might not like what I have to say next time.”
Comments
notsogullible 12 years, 7 months ago
lady ping's comments are so so typical of the plp's entitlement culture. does she think this is a kingdom. does she think this country belongs to the pindlings or even worse the plp. which God stepped down and gave sir lynden ownership of this country? it's quite comical to see my fellow inner city plp supporters feeling sympathy for her having lost a bit of her wealth that was actually gained on their backs.
BigD1 12 years, 7 months ago
Bahamians have a very short memory or maybe too young to know. After the commission of inquiry it was Mr. Ingraham who stopped the prosecution of Sir Lynden and his Cabinet and he received harsh criticism from his party because of it. People should do there research rather than follow the noise in the market.
Victor 12 years, 7 months ago
Ha! If the Commission of Inquiry caused Sir Linden Oscar Pindling (SLOP) stress, it was because he had lots to hide. And if SLOP died broke, it must be because Lady P kept drinking Dom long after she could get the Bahamian people to pay for it. And why should we have had to pay for her maid and cook? You should have bought your own car; the Bahamain people did not owe you one forever. That palace SLOP built on Skyline Drive - you could have cut out a couple of the rooms and bought yourself a pair of cars, but you thought you would never be out of power. I've no sympathy for, you, with all your attitude of entitlement. Your husband probably wasn't even entitled to be PM anyway. How come they never found SLOP's birth certificate? Maybe they should have looked in Jamaica for it.
GQ 12 years, 7 months ago
I strongly beg to differ with Dame Marguerite Pindling on Sir Cecil choosing Mr. Christie as a successor because I was in an office in Freeport along with several others a couple days after the 87 election was stolen from us when the decision was made that Mr. Ingraham would join the FNM and become leader at the appropriate time.
We then flew Mr. Ingraham to Walkers Cay from which he took a boat to Grand Cay to discuss this decison with his supporters.
AND I AM DEAD SERIOUS!
Shirley 12 years, 7 months ago
Lady Pindling, please do not allow these desperate PLPs to use you in this manner again. Some things are better left unsaid.
C_MonMan 12 years, 7 months ago
Wow. This debacle really saddens me. It was a stroke of brillance by the PM to use this footage, and I am sure he also knew that the PLP would take the bait and overreact. And, overreact they did. Let's pray that over the next eight days all of us will conduct ourselves in a manner that would make us proud to be Bahamians, especially our politicians and their followers.
dpratt 12 years, 7 months ago
WOW. Your readers are so mean and disrespectful. I suppose what else can you expect from a country where even the Prime Minister has no class. I think the British part of our heritage is finally gone. My father would be sad to see what this country has become.
C_MonMan 12 years, 7 months ago
@dpratt, you claim the Tribune readers are mean and disrespectful, however, in your very next sentence you disparage all Bahamians by asking, "what else can you expect from a country where even the PM has no class". I guess your disparaging statement is not mean and disrespectful? Judge not lest you be judged.
notsogullible 12 years, 7 months ago
Don't tell me you expect better from the entitled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ConcernedVoter 12 years, 7 months ago
Thank you Lady Pindling for speaking the TRUTH!!!!! and we ALL know the truth hurts..that's why yal FNM's are so disgruntled...but who cares!!! WHO VEX, VEX!!!
notsogullible 12 years, 7 months ago
PLP's are so predictably blinded by the brainwashing they've been subject to for the past 45 years. This is no time to be still worshipping the Pindling's and the elitist PLP entitlement culture. We've been brought into the light since 1992 - THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gadfly 12 years, 7 months ago
I am somewhat perplexed at the righteous indignation of those who are now claiming that it is somewhat mean, disrespectful, without class or somehow unethical to criticise Lady Pindling for her remarks. The history of modern civilisation is somewhat clear on the fact that during a conflict and make no mistake this election is a conflict for the future of the Bahamas, non-combatants, that is innocent third parties and observers should not under any circumstance be wantonly attacked by combatants to the conflict. To do so would be unethical. However, just as it is unethical for a combatant to attack a non-combatant, when a non-combatant begins attacking combatants that is as clear a declaration of one's intention to become a combatant as any.
With this in mind, Lady Pindling, who is a smart lady, knew or ought to have known that by allowing herself to be used to engage in personal attacks she moved from the rank of an innocent third party or observer to the rank of an active combatant who can attack and unfortunately also be attacked and criticised. As unfortunate as it is and as much as it saddens me, she just cannot have it both ways.
MauriceMedia 12 years, 7 months ago
Yep, people should be mindful that what you say in public will stay around for a pretty long time. I don't know what she was thinking. Mr. Ingraham is a very smart man and I am pretty sure he was anticipating a strong response from the video.
I was at the rally when Mr. Ingraham played the clip and I must say, it was flawless psychology at play to mess with the heads of the plp. I'll tell you one thing, in all my years observing politics, even as a little boy, I have never heard two cents from the Dame. Mr. Ingraham must have caused her to lose sleep over the video!
TalRussell 12 years, 7 months ago
Comrades leave it to the FNM regime's about to be fired PM to perform a limbo belittling act on the founder of our Bahamaland and his family. This is taking a long farewell speech by Pindling and reducing him and his family to ridicule in his misguided few seconds sound-bite. Ingraham's limbo attack against the Pindlings - taking Pindling's words out of context to suit his twisted election campaign. Comrades it just goes to show that he is afraid of his former, trusted law partner Prime Minister Christie Ingraham, knowing it is all lies that Pindling never said that he wanted Ingraham to be the leader of the PLP. How would he like it if all of a sudden the PLP started to attack Mrs. Ingraham? I would hope that neither attack on any wife of any politician is acceptable to the natives. How dare this little-minded thinking man attack the dead and his family. If Ingraham was on such good terms with Pindling, then why his own admission that just before Pindling died that he Ingraham had visited him to apologized for the arrogant and spiteful way he had treated the founder of our Bahamaland? And....you really want to give this man another five years in office?
Baintowngal 12 years, 7 months ago
Lady Pindling say she poor, that Pindling died broke? Read these FACTS: In the explosive 1988 book - the Cocaine Wars - described how Carlos Lehder, the Colombian cartel's transport chief, took control of an island in the Exumas "while the government of Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling did its best to help him feel at home." A review of Sir Lynden's personal finances by the 1984 Commission of Inquiry in Nassau found that he had spent eight times his reported total earnings from 1977 to 1984. According to the Inquiry: "The prime minister and Lady Pindling have received at least $57.3 million in cash PLUS Witnesses at Lehder's 1988 trial in the US said Pindling was paid $88,000 on the 22nd of each month to protect the Norman's Cay base, and Everette Bannister - who was also indicted in the US for funneling bribes from drug smugglers to Bahamian officials - collected the bribes personally, and Lady Pindling say she poor??
concernedcitizen 12 years, 7 months ago
lady pindling as the mother of the nation i respected you and your class ,,now you are losing it ..remeber your husband called for the comission of inquiry,,,and to say he died broke ,,,did u have to sell your home on skyline drive or your condos in london ...did u have to borrow againts your interest in island seafood where darrel rolle fronted for you, or all the business that tiger got shares in as the cost of doing business here ,,did the new yorkers that backed the plp in the beginning for gambling rights abandon you ,,,,lady p come on that hocus may fly w/ the uneducated and die hard old plps but theres not a sintilla of truth in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SummerTimeFine 12 years, 7 months ago
um Lady P was better off not responding to the video and letting it ride cuz boo boo if your husband was only making under 100k per year how yall afford a 5mil dollar house -_- which kinda sorta looks like u was livin off the people money and not your own cuz if u were livin off your own you wouldnt have had to "hike" a ride...so you say smh don't do it miss...sit down and let FNM take their win again
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