The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I am a long-time supporter and member of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and ‘proud’ to be so.

This party, historically, has always been for the small and medium-sized Bahamian. The PLP embodies the political and economic aspirations of the average man and woman in this wonderful nation called The Bahamas.

Under successive PLP administrations, we have witnessed the emergence and development of the so-called middle class and the creation of millionaires.

Having said all of the above, however, this Christie led administration seems to have become dysfunctional; delusional and off track over the past several months.

Yes, it is well known that while I supported and voted for the return to high office of the PLP, I am not a fan or partisan of Mr Christie. I have often told him this to his face.

I have known the Rt Honourable gentleman all of my adult life. He is no longer the Christie that I used to know.
He is now like a man living in a parallel universe.

His shelf life has, in my opinion, come to an ignoble end and he needs to simply step aside with dignity and decorum before he is obliged by political forces and reality to go home.

During the months leading up to the selection of candidates for the PLP, I publicly warned my party not to embrace individuals who had previously and very publicly lambasted the party and its leadership cadre.

As usual, the party paid me no mind and today the political buzzards and apostates have come home to roost.

While I admire people who are capable of speaking their minds, without fear or intimidation, there is a right and a wrong way to do so.

The Hon Andre Rollins (PLP-Fort Charlotte) would never have entered the hallowed halls of the House of Assembly had he not been embraced by the PLP generally and the PM in particular. The same applies to his erstwhile sidekick, the Hon Renward Wells (PLP-Bamboo Town).

They are, with all due respect and charity, two of the most ungrateful negroes in the nation. They were floundering in the political wilderness for years when they used to be banded together as the National Democratic Party.

They led their then misguided supporters down the proverbial garden path and suddenly disbanded in the middle of the night and emerged as ‘blue eyed’ boys and girls within the bosom of the PLP.

Neither Rollins nor Wells were ever true PLPs and, in fact, they really do not know or appreciate what it means to be a PLP.

It is no wonder, therefore, that Wells has become embroiled in this LOI saga (which will end badly for him) and the insulting manner in which Rollins has been talking to and referring to the PM, his token political leader and assumed mentor.

I am happy to see that the DPM, the Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis (PLP-Cat Island) has had the gumption to invite Rollins to do the honourable thing. When an elected individual in a political party no longer has faith in the leader, he or she should resign from the same or be jettisoned without further ado.

He /she need not resign from parliament but should either cross the floor or declare him/herself an independent. Rollins could not have dared to do this to Ingraham.

The PLP must exercise serious discipline in this Rollins fiasco and must do so sooner rather than later, in a very public way. Now that the investigation ordered by the DPM relative to Wells has been concluded, Wells must also be required to now do the honourable thing. If he has to fall on his sword, so to speak, he should do so.

Eventually, he will have an opportunity to rehabilitate himself and re-emerge as a potential future leader within the party.

The Hon Greg Moss (PLP-Marco City) is, in my opinion, still smarting over his abrupt and inglorious dismissal as Chairman of The National Insurance Board. He has something hard for the PM and the PLP and it is not a mint from Mortimer’s Candy Kitchen. While I agree with his stance on VAT and income tax, there is a right and a wrong way to do things within a parliamentary caucus.

His blustery and pharaonic oratory in the House of Assembly in recent times are just that and was meant for the purposes of grand standing and playing to the public gallery. Moss is a political pygmy and will turn out to be a one term member of the House of Assembly. Why the PM would even bother to respond to him is beyond me. Christie holds all of the cards in this game and to get down into the gutter with political pygmies is beyond the pale.

If Moss has lost faith in Christie’s leadership, he too should do the honourable thing and simply fade into political oblivion now, rather than wait to be forced to do so later. Whether he acknowledges it or not, his days, politically, are written in sand.

The PLP must rise to the occasion and get on with the real business of the people. During the past few months the nation’s attention has been distracted and the pressing matters of education, fiscal reform, health care and the growth of the economy have been placed on the back burners.

The long vexing problems with shanty town; illegal immigration and migration are not even being talked about by this administration.

I am a firm supporter and political disciple of the Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and look forward to the day when he will be able to take his rightful place within the PLP.

Once he would have done this, I will support either the Hon Shayne Gibson (PLP-Golden Gates) or the Hon Michael (PLP-Golden Isles) as Deputy Prime Minister.

Until these events occur, however, the Christie led administration, unless it pulls up its socks, will continue to appear dysfunctional; rudderless and impotent. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr

Nassau,

August 22, 2014.