The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Paul Moss and Pastor Glen Rolle took calls for Prime Minister Perry Christie to resign following the failed referendum a step further yesterday, demanding the resignation of Leader of the Official Opposition Dr Hubert Minnis as well.

The pair insisted the party leaders had lost credibility and were unfit to lead given their collaboration in Parliament and support of the “yes” campaign.

“What we have is a collaborative effort by Dr Minnis and the prime minister to fashion a ‘yes’ vote,” Mr Moss said.

“The Bahamian people voted in overwhelming numbers and rejected the vote. In every step of the way these two acted in concert, so now no one is left to hold government’s feet to the fire. No one could give an account; no one knew they were collaborating together. They gave people the impression that the PLP was acting alone.”

“When you look at the prime minister in his commentary, he went to great lengths to point out that Dr Minnis was in step with him. Dr Minnis has conspired, aided and abetted.”

Mr Moss pointed out that the Official Opposition should have demanded the government report the amount of public funds used to finance the YES Bahamas campaign, but ultimately did not because it was “in bed with it.”

He noted that Tuesday’s vote was not just an outright rejection but “something cataclysmic.”

Meanwhile, Pastor Rolle hit out at major religious leaders who supported the referendum, accusing those clergymen of abandoning the Bahamian people in a time of spiritual need.

“Given the fact that thousands of Bahamians have rejected all of the bills advanced by the Bahamas government,” Pastor Rolle said, “the extent to which the major religious leaders abandoned what ought to have been a clear sign that they ought to be keepers of the gate.

“They seemed to have aligned themselves with policy and a constitutional referendum that clearly was an abandonment of the very foundation as to which this nation was built. At this defining moment the Bahamian people expected not only the government but those we rely on for spirit guidance to give the kind of leadership that would secure and preserve who we are as a people.”

Pastor Rolle said: “In the absence of leaders from government and traditional leadership, Bahamian people were left to fend for themselves. Except those who fought, they were an expression of the champions for the Bahamian people, they stood at the gate when those turned their backs on the Bahamian people.”

He maintained that the outcome reaffirms for the next generation the values that were passed down from the nation’s founding fathers.

Mr Moss and Pastor Rolle spoke out as members of an economic group Securing Economic Freedom for All (SEFA), which is headed by trade unionist John Pinder.

Although Mr Moss denied that SEFA was a political group, both men issued an appeal to political-hopefuls to band together in hopes of forging a coalition government of independents.

“I want to make a call to all Bahamians who are independent,” Mr Moss said, “who believe that they can do the job of a parliamentarian as leaders of their country to come forward now. The people have said they have rejected both FNM and PLP and now is the time for independent people to come up, band together and make place in the country so we can change direction of the country.

“We see ourselves and the Bahamian people see themselves as keepers of the gate, and they want others to keep the gate with them. The current leadership failed and was influenced by outside factions.”

Mr Moss said the failed referendum has inspired persons to get involved in public service.

“People are seeing this as their opportunity to give back to their country and be a part of a new government,” he said.