The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

FNM Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner has criticised the government's legislative plan, dubbing it "inconclusive and meandering."

Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday, Mrs Butler-Turner stated the PLP's National Budget and legislative plan, as detailed in the Speech from the Throne, should not be viewed as "simply pages", but "living documents".

"They are living documents because they concern the most fundamental reasons for which we are here," she said. "These reasons are the common good and the general welfare of the Bahamian people.

"Indeed, these are moral documents, because they reveal our priorities as a nation. They reveal our core values as a people. They reveal how we care for people from the dawn of life to the end of our days. Taken together, the National Budget and the Speech from the Throne are about the national agenda."

The Opposition will therefore "hold the government accountable" for how well or poorly their priorities and actions "advance or fail to advance" the needs of the Bahamian people, she said.

Results, rather than "promises on paper" will determine how well the Government does in meeting the needs of the country, she continued.

However, the newly-crowned deputy opposition leader claimed the results could leave Bahamians with "bitter disappointment" because of a lack of innovation and specifics.

"I am unimpressed with the lack of imagination and innovative thinking that generally characterizes the Government's legislative agenda," Mrs Butler-Turner said. "It lacks a compelling and overarching vision. It is sparse on specific legislation in critical areas. It is, in various areas, inconclusive and meandering. Sadly, the sum of the Speech seems much less than its meandering and disjointed parts."

The Government can no longer "govern by slogans or by over-promising" now that they are in office. "They now have to deliver," she said.

"This will be a tall order for a party that has been an extraordinary failure in terms of delivering various public goods, and a failure in delivering hope, especially for our more vulnerable citizens."

The Speech from the Throne is similar to a collection of "quickly thrown together ideas" than a thoughtful speech, Mrs Butler-Turner claimed.

"It clearly is not the work of a Government ready from day one. And because this Government was not ready from day one, its 100-day mark will come and go as a bitter disappointment for many Bahamians."

The Government's "incapability" to provide more legislative specifics in the Speech from the Throne demonstrates the government is "already off-track and headed nowhere fast."

She stated: "Perhaps the Government should spend more time crafting legislation and less time taking care of their perks, measuring the size of their offices, while counting to see who has what number on their blue plate."