By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE FREE National Movement’s newest senator, Carl Bethel, said yesterday that he will use his time in the Upper Chamber to ensure the PLP government keeps all the promises they made to the Bahamian people.
Shortly after receiving his instruments of appointment at Government House yesterday morning, Mr Bethel said there is still a lot of work to be done in this country and he, along with the other FNM Senators, will ensure the government works in the best interest of the people.
“At the end of the day there are a lot of problems this country faces. The government will have its way, the opposition will have its say and in the process of the opposition having its say there will be a constructive working dialogue that will improve whatever it is the government is seeking to implement throughout the next several years. That is the hope, because everybody doesn’t have all the right answers but everybody can do it together, that is our hope. Of course we intend to vigorously do our very best to see if our government lives up to every one of its election promises and in the event that they fail to do so, we will be quick to point out where they have fallen down and what they can do to address the situation,” he said.
“I think the Bahamian people would say they (the government) have not been very successful at this point, but we know that the country is set by forces beyond its control which would limit the ability of any government to deliver in election promises. That is why you should be careful what promises you make and not make wild promises when you are out there without regard for what the true situation is. Do not make wild promises because at the end of the day we all knew in 2011 and 2012 exactly what the country was going through and these challenges have not changed. I don’t think the government is doing as good of a job as we would have done.”
As it relates to his future career in politics, Mr Bethel said he will run again in 2017 if “it is what the people want”.
He said: “My whole adult life has been one of seeking to do the best that I can do to serve the Bahamian people. Really it depends on the will of the people, not my will. I will do whatever I can do in whatever capacity I am asked to render service to the Bahamian people and make the world a better place, 2017 is just around the corner so I think if I have health and strength and the people wish I would offer myself in whatever capacity they will have me.”
Mr Bethel will be the Leader of Opposition Business in the Upper Chamber.
Comments
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 1 month ago
There is no such thing as holding this group of morons accountable. They never do anything anyway. All they do is lie and make excuses. This so called government is anything but. And they honestly do not care what anyone says or thinks. You cannot shame someone that has no shame.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
Are you still using bad language and calling people names from the safety of your parents home ,i bet you don,t talk to grown ups like that when you are interacting in person .
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
From all appearances, I'd say Hubert is still making senate appointments from Cooper's Town. Comrade Carl B was a proud red shirts senator once before, after he was rejected by the voters. Maybe he's willing to share with Tribune readers what the upper chamber's minutes will show, what he as a "taxpayers paid" senator between 2002 and 2007 ever did to keep the then "government of the day" in check. Can he name just one Bill sent-up from the House of Assembly to the upper chamber of which the minutes recorded that he had even questioned, much less opposed. the Hubert regime? Did the many hundreds murdered from 2002 and 2007, or the many thousands of paycheck less Bahamalander's, ever reach him? Did the disgrace of the Shantytowns ever reach up to the "loyal only to the reds" good senator? Truth is, I would challenge Comrade Senator Carl B, to point to just one Bill the upper chamber has blocked since a nominated Council was appointed by Comrade British Governor Woods Rogers way back in 1718? Is this what Minnis meant when he promised to attract new blood into the reds party. That he would rotate senators in order to make room for "fresh faces" to serve in the upper chamber? One closer look at that photo of Carl B, says he's more like a Hubert retread appointee, not no fresh face.
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 1 month ago
Sorry Tal but you are insane. After the last 1 1/2 years you cannot compare this PLP to the FNM. Maybe to Spongebob or to Dora the Explorer but not to the FNM. This PLP is a farce. 2 billion borrowed already and they can't even install runway lights in a year?!?!?!? You gotta be jokin bro.....
ThisIsOurs 11 years, 1 month ago
Hey, don't diss Dora like that
Btw, good news, I hear the bill for the majority rule holiday will be tabled soon. If nothing else they will have one major accomplishment in their first two years...an additional day of rest.
BoopaDoop 11 years, 1 month ago
Actually, Leslie Miller said we are dumb.
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
Comrade stick to the facts. Did Minnis say that he would appoint fresh faces to the senate. That he wanted to rotate senators. That we wanted to make room for new blood? Is reappointing a retread Hubert senator your idea of a fresh face? Sometimes you just can't duck the truth. If so, might as well just recall the man from Cooper's Town.
Jack Webb and Johnny Carson .../ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjquGpmg…
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
Tal has the senate here ever not passed a bill sent up from the majority in the house PLP or FNM ??All we got so far Tals is 1 referen DUM couple of scandals ,ol bag men like B Bethel making deals w/ the crypt keeper in lyford cay ,lots of trips to far flung places w/ entourages studying gaming ,consular office here there and everywhere,,you think the buffets are bad ,thats nothing compared to Oswald Brown and Paulette Zonicle,s made up post in DC and them consular generals in Atlanta driving round the PM,S daughter trying to make her the next Beyonce and wait till the VAT kicks the small man in the head ..This Farm road now Tals don,t worry bout cooper towns ,
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 1 month ago
Um all a dem young uns he appointed needed a leader. Bannister gone so now Carl in. Damn good choice as far as I'm concerned son....
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
I don't hear much about on the street corners about Minnis, Loretta or Senator Carl B, except the talk that all required for full baptism as a red shirt is for you to be willing to make the passage from Nassau Town to the Port of Miami,. (at your own expense cause Hubert ain't leave no money in reds bank account) where you will be warmly greeted by them Cuban Movement members whose all about how to successfully boycott Bahamaland's vital tourism industry. Something no opposition party leader in the long history of Bahamaland have ever before been so willing to lead their party right into committing political suicide. Not so with the one and only Honorable red shirts House member who sat alone and proudly hails from the great town of Marsh Harbor. The only red shirt House MP who understands the importance of tourism to his Abaco. God bless you Comrade Edison! Oh my, I forget Minnis and Loretta want all we to quietly move on from the Cuban Movement thing. No so fast, cause it go'in stick with you red up to and throughout the 2017 General Elections That's if you two are still around? We channel go'in remain stuck on this Cuban fling by you reds.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
1 referen DUM ,one bag man Bethel ,numerous consular and consular generals all over the globe ,numerous trips to the far east studying gaming for the in crowd and all dey entourage , 2 Hours of unabated ass whupping at the dentention center , about 30 cubans deported setting a new record in deportation time ,and Urrrrrrrrrrben renewal ,,web shop casinos poppin up like weeds ,,did i miss anything Tals
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
What are you selling on the street corners?
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Did somebody ring da bell and make this political season or is everyone so hungry (for politics) they biting at anything and everything that moves? That being said I think Carl Bethel was a good choice for the senate post. Well because he is someone that is vocal and visible and he also found the basketballs to stand up to Hubert Ingraham, even when it almost caused him his political career. To face the facts the current government had to hit the ground running, as unprepared as they might have been. There were just so many irons in the fire, to sit on their hands and slacken off all the way..with the crime and the economy and drugs and human trafficking, and the IMF breathing down the country's throat. So they couldn't just slacken off and cater to their cronies if that is what they had planned...or did they plan anything in the event they did win the election? But yes, time to put aside party politics and keep the nose of this government to the grindstone. Make sure that whatever is done is done in the interest of the Bahamian people first and foremost. I think we need to stop tearing down each other just a lil bit because of party politics and try pull this country up by its bootstraps,
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Something to think about....OUR NATIONAL DEBT grew from $1 billion plus to $5.5 billion in 15 years. Our POPULATION OF BAHAMIANS IS STILL UNDER 400,000. IN SIMPLE TERMS this means that, besides their personal debt, each and every Bahamian owes FIVE times more than they owed 15 years ago.
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
Great distraction. Comment on an opposition FNM appointment while the governing party of intellectually and morally challenged dullards and criminals are destroying the fabric and soul of the country. And then mix in the blind-stupid partisanship and non-medicated anger management and foul mouth cussing, and you have an exact microcosm of Bahamian society.
We as a people are great armchair quarterbacks. But we are lily-livered cowards who instead of holding our leaders accountable, overlook the grave injustices that they are doing to our peoples and our nation. True patriotism is dead and gone in the Bahamas among the PLP and its supporters, and replaced with a bunch of cheerleading mental midgets.
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