The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH he opted to stick by the decision he made to remain in the Progressive Liberal Party, Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells said he would have acted no differently if placed in the same position as his fellow MP Dr Andre Rollins.

His comments came after Dr Rollins quit the PLP in the House of Assembly.

Mr Wells defended the pair’s intentions for joining the PLP in 2011 against accusations that the former National Democratic Party leaders jumped ship as political opportunists.

He said: “The things that we spoke about when we were in that other grouping was economic empowerment of the Bahamian people, putting Bahamians first. We spoke about a gaming referendum, we spoke about deepening democracy, we spoke about food security, energy security, all of the things, 21st century education, that we are now speaking about in this Parliament.

“I believe one of the things that we did in this country was to bring those issues to the fore even when we were in that grouping.

“So folks said we used that vehicle of the PLP to get here, everyone uses a vehicle to do certain things but the fact of the matter is the genuineness of coming in to the PLP was real.”

Branded as new generation politicians by executive leadership when they were put on the PLP’s 2012 general election ticket, Dr Rollins and Mr Wells have shared the spotlight on numerous occasions for their controversial, dissenting views over the last year.

Most notably, their vocal opposition to government-supported initiatives like the implementation of value added tax and the gender equality referendum.

Last year when Dr Rollins was brought before the party’s disciplinary committee for his repeated scathing critique of party leader Prime Minister Perry Christie, Mr Wells told the press he would resign if the hot-tempered dentist was expelled for speaking his mind.

On Wednesday night when asked if he would reconsider his decision to remain a party member, Mr Wells said: “I made my contribution on Monday, and I spoke to the issues I wanted to speak to – for each of us there are different things that bring us to that point.

“Obviously tonight if I was in the position of Andre I would have done the same, I would have done the same.”

Asked whether he felt as though Dr Rollins was respected by fellow parliamentarians, Mr Wells said: “I think that whether your colleagues respect you or not is never the driving force or mission of a politician.

“You would like to have that, but I think whether your views and values are respected by the Bahamian people of whom you’re supposed to represent with your voice and your vote, I think that is the greater question that any politician would ask.”

He added: “I think what we ought to be giving thought to is ideas and not idols, principles and not persons, message and not men.”