FNM names shadow cabinet

As of Monday, June 18, 2012

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

THE opposition Free National Movement announced its shadow cabinet over the weekend, with party leader Dr Hubert Minnis taking responsibility for Health and National Security.

Loretta Butler-Turner

Deputy leader Loretta Butler-Turner will be the shadow minister of Social Services and National Insurance, while Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant will take shadow responsibility for Works and Urban Development.

Senator Desmond Bannister will be shadow minister of Education, Science and Technology, while Senator Zhivargo Laing will be shadow minister of Finance and Financial Services.

South Abaco MP Edison Key will be shadow minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government, while St Anne's MP Hubert Chipman will be shadow minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.

The other appointments include:

East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest - shadow minister of Grand Bahama
Montagu MP Richard Lightbourne - shadow Attorney General and minister of Legal Affairs
North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly - shadow minister of Tourism, Transport and Aviation
Senator Kwasi Thompson - shadow minister of Environment and Housing
Senator Heather Hunt - shadow minister of Youth, Sports and Culture

It was also announced that Dr Minnis will be the spokesperson in the House of Assembly for Youth, Sports, Culture and Environment, while Mr Chipman will speak on Education Science and Technology, Mr Turnquest on Finance, and Mr Grant on Housing.

Dr Minnis said: "Each of these appointees will have primary responsibility to speak in the House of Assembly or the Senate on their areas of designated portfolio responsibility on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

"The duty of a shadow minister is precisely that, to shadow and keep track of all the policy initiatives, actions and defaults of the substantive Cabinet minister, to advance alternative policy or principled arguments on behalf of the opposition and the Bahamian people, and to assist the leader of the opposition, as likely future Cabinet ministers, in charting the course towards victory in the next general elections."

TalRussell 12 years, 6 months ago

Old or new red shirts are all shadows to the first Hubert A's muted cabinet. Hubert's red shirts regime's past five long years in office is the best teacher of what they did to our tiny and beloved Bahamaland. GDP numbers are but statistics pointing to the many failures of the wretched red shirts. The long-term economic harm that is being experienced in thousands of native's homes across Bahamaland is the real true economic indicators of a failed regime that showed little compassion for their own natives. Never in the History of Bahamaland has any government relocated so many from the middle classes to the poverty classes. What Hubert's enables around his rubber stamp cabinet table and his sitting MP's actually did is not what it they are now trying to make it out to be. Comrades what it really was and the insane ways the red shirts dealt with it the economy, Grand Bahama, crime and protecting the sovereignty of our Bahamaland, brought all the hurting differences in the world to the many thousands of native's who lost their paychecks under their wretched regime. Sadly, 500 lost their lives at the hands of murderous thugs left free to roam our streets under their red shirts watch. . Comrades the red shirts may be undergoing some imaginary public relations attempt to rewrite the past five years, but sadly their is nothing so imaginary about the stark truth in the lives of the 60,0000 out of paychecks natives they so silently watched over as they attempted to stretch the quality and quantity of the food they could put on the family tables. Comrades before you buy into the new Hubert A's rewriting of their five long years in power, I want you to try to imagine what it must have been like to have to have to rob your child's piggy bank to pay for their own funeral?

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2012…

242 12 years, 6 months ago

You post a pic of a pig....that must be Squealer from "Animal Farm"...no wonder you always use the word Comrade in every post just like the book...

concernedcitizen 12 years, 6 months ago

IT IS SQUEALER AND I ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT THE COMRADE THING ....

TalRussell 12 years, 6 months ago

Comrades ain't no red shirts shadow cabinet's silly talk going pay all the unpaid rents across our Bahamaland which was left behind by the red shirts.

There has been of talk about offering a helping hand to prevent the native's from losing their homes over unpaid mortgage payments, but what about a 'rent assistance" program to prevent many more thousands of families from being kicked out of their dwellings and onto the streets?

You see the red shirts all have this memory paradox. When they look back over the past five wretched years. they conveniently exclude themselves from all the harm they helped inflict upon our tiny and beloved Bahamaland. See, I long time ago figured out all them red shirts.

Now, it's time to figure out the new" Hubert A., and his shadow cabinet. Good Lord, the red shirts announced a shadow cabinet, and even the green shirts say they ain't going be left out and announced they own shadow's. You go figure how this can be so when we know the greens hinted that they had $25 million to fight the 2012 General Elections, but they didn't.

And, Comrades let's not forget it was Hubert himself who done admit how he left his red shirts over $1 million in unpaid bills?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4o-TeMH…

mynameis 12 years, 6 months ago

What on earth are you talking about? Unpaid rents? Whose rent? If you're talking about the regular joe on the street, I must ask :Where have you been for the last five years? You don't know about the wide-reaching social welfare policy that the FNM, or as you call them, the red shirts, imposed on Bahamian people during their term. Part of that social welfare policy was rent assistance. Don't you recall all of those media reports on a number of single mothers crying by Social Services? What about when the "customers" rioted by Social Services resulting in a Social Worker being injured? All of that was about the welfare they were supposed to collect. How about the unemployment benefit?
Now as to a shadow Cabinet and left-over bills, I must ask again where have you been? You mean you don't know that the PLP had a shadow Cabinet of its own during the FNM term...I sure remember the "shadow Minister for Social Services, Melanie Griffith" having a big row with the then Minister for Social Services, Loretta Butler-Turner over the incidences and concerns of Social Workers. I sure remember "shadow Minister Fred Mitchell" commenting on "foreign affairs". AnyThe point is there is nothing unusual about shadow Cabinets or Ministers. It's what all Oppositions do. Now with the left-over bills, you mean to tell me you weren't aware of the big bill that the PLP left with ZNS after losing in 2007 or how the Chairman, Bradley Roberts indicated that the party was in need of funds as the coffers of the party were low? Either you were born yesterday or you really are not as tuned-in as you pretend you are, commenting on every single thing appearing in this newspaper...or maybe you're really as clueless as your writing implies you are.

Oracle 12 years, 6 months ago

At least one party is GETTING TO WORK....The duty of a shadow minister is precisely that, to shadow and keep track of all the policy initiatives, actions and defaults of the substantive Cabinet minister, to advance alternative policy or principled arguments on behalf of the opposition and the Bahamian people, and to assist the leader of the opposition, as likely future Cabinet ministers, in charting the course towards victory in the next general elections

TalRussell 12 years, 6 months ago

Comrades oh really?

Just maybe if had the"new" Hubert A on the leadership scene, along with the rest of his red shirts cabinet colleagues, had spent a little of their time "shadowing Hubert's recklessness" they wouldn't be scrapping together a shadow cabinet. out of the ashes he left from all but burning down their once all powerful red shirts party?

Obviously, Hubert's former, trusted law partner's shadow cabinet must have been doing an effective job, or how else did they wrestle the government away from him?

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2012…

Cc 12 years, 6 months ago

Tal and other pLP's are just ticked off that the FNm and everyone else will be watching every step this new government takes. Did anyone else notice that the Wendy's drive thru shooting wasn't aired on ZNS? Had to see it on Cable 12 along with a copule of other violent crime news. They are trying to brush some stuff under the rug so people can think that crime is lessening. They do not understand that not everyone is as ill informed as their base. Yes, Perry and his band of merry men are irritated beyond belief. That's a good thing. As HI kept saying - what's good for Bahamians is bad for the PLP.

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