Opposition leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis.
By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party interim Leader Phillip "Brave" Davis said yesterday he "doesn't understand" calls from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for him to tell the nation he is "sorry" about errors made during the Christie administration because neither he nor the PLP did anything "deliberate" to harm the Bahamian people.
In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Davis said Dr Minnis should stop asking for an apology because he never promised Dr Minnis one and "so I do not have to give him one".
On Tuesday, Dr Minnis said while he appreciates Mr Davis admitting the opposition party made mistakes during its last term in office, he is still waiting to hear "a real apology".
In an interview with reporters, Dr Minnis said he listened "attentively" to Mr Davis' address to the nation and said he noticed the words "I am sorry" were missing.
However, he said he understands that Mr Davis is "fighting for his own survival" and may have simply forgotten.
On Monday night during a televised national address, Mr Davis admitted the former government was not perfect, made "serious" mistakes and lost the "trust' of Bahamians, but offered no outright apology for the missteps of the previous Christie administration.
Instead he sought to justify the former governing party's actions saying that during its last term in office the Christie administration was always thinking of the people affected by its policies.
"I never promised him an apology, I never promised the prime minister an apology so I don't have to give him one," Mr Davis told The Tribune on Wednesday.
"What is this issue about being sorry and what is the sorry about? We are all human and we are subject to errors and mistakes. So why do I have to say sorry? Because we did nothing deliberate to harm anyone, we did not do anything that we thought was not in the best interest of the Bahamian people."
Mr Davis said the PLP made its case to the public for re-election and were "voted out" of office. He said the opposition will spend the next few years ensuring the same mistakes are not repeated when the PLP regains power.
"The people convicted us and they sentenced to a maximum of five years," Mr Davis said.
"We are serving our sentence and during this period we will rehabilitate ourselves and trust that we will not make the same mistakes and be better for the Bahamian people."
Despite conceding his party's mistakes on Monday, Mr Davis also castigated Dr Minnis, saying his national address last week left the Official Opposition "perplexed" and offered no vision, concrete policies or credible plans for taking the country forward.
The former governing party was wiped out of office on May 10, only winning four out of 39 seats in the House of Assembly.
Comments
BahamasForBahamians 7 years, 4 months ago
When is Minnis going to apologize for appointing my dead uncle to a board?
My family was just getting over his passing.
realfreethinker 7 years, 4 months ago
Sorry for your family's lost. But please dont use that as justification for Brave. They are not connected,allow your uncle to RIP
Abaconian 7 years, 4 months ago
The PLP should say sorry.
birdiestrachan 7 years, 4 months ago
Mr: Davis you will be dammed if you do or you don't no matter what you say they will say you should not have said that. you should have said??. you will not be able to please those people. The PLP did some very good and positive things during their time in office. The University of the Bahamas, BAMSI and the air space just to mention a few.
I could never understand why after the PLP had already start the progress of the college into a university The FNM did not continue. with the plan
The wise will understand the fool has no need to know. they say.
Alex_Charles 7 years, 4 months ago
The University of the Bahamas is already a university. The government has no more involvement in that as the institution is no seeking to meet all requirements for SACS accreditation. Not sure what you are talking about when you say the FNM doesn't want to continue the plan.
The primary reason that the former college was so atrociously horrid with it's business office and budgeting was because of government interference (from both PLP and FNM). Hopefully that era is over.
Leave the University out of it.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 4 months ago
Stupid idiot still just doesn't get it - there is no PLP anymore. It's gone, forever.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 4 months ago
Davis does not have to tell Minnis sorry ......... He has to tell the country sorry ........... If he does not understand that, well it is time that he retires in the best interest of the country.
tell_it_like_it_is 7 years, 4 months ago
Ummm... Davis, hubris is really not a good look for you. Is that what you were going for?
sheeprunner12 7 years, 4 months ago
Davis is saying all of these silly things so that at the PLP convention, they will have NO reason to elect him as party leader ...... This can be his only ploy. In other words ......... he is really only the interim leader and is free to speak his mind
baldbeardedbahamian 7 years, 4 months ago
Davis made lots and lots of money defending Columbian drug importers. Drugs have had a bad effect upon this country but Davis got rich defending those caught and prosecuted. He will make as bad a prime minister as Fweddy would.
SP 7 years, 4 months ago
WTF...I can't believe people are still wasting time reading anything this white crown pigeon has to say!
CatIslandBoy 7 years, 4 months ago
"The people convicted us and they sentenced to a maximum of five years," Mr Davis said Will someone please tell this clown that the PLP was sentenced to a minimum of five years.
justthefactsplease 7 years, 4 months ago
How about saying sorry for wasting and pilfering billions in VAT revenue; for support corruption among your cabinet (Jerome, etc); for ignoring the will of the people on the gaming referendum; for lying to us about tabling the BAMSI contracts, the BPL proposal; for interfering in a private matter at Bahamar...the list goes on. Many of those things weren't just mistakes, they were deliberate acts of shafting the Bahamian people.
jujutreeclub 7 years, 4 months ago
Minnis never asked brave to apologize to him, but the bahamian people who the PLP screwed over. He need to read/ listen to understand.
MassExodus 7 years, 4 months ago
Go Fuck yourself PLP and Philip Davis
Apostle 7 years, 4 months ago
Brave you don't need to apologize. Just don't expect forgiveness. In your words "it's an immutable law".
NewPatriot 7 years, 4 months ago
Davis said that the PLP didn't do anything to deliberately harm the Bahamian people but IGNORANCE is not the same as INNOCENCE
Alex_Charles 7 years, 4 months ago
Not a fan of the old PLP guard refusing to acknowledge that they are a bunch of full of shit carpet baggers. Allow new blood in and revitalize your gangster party. People didn't vote for the FNM because they wanted them. it was more of getting rid of you lot, they were just the default.
Why can't these dinosaurs see this?
sheeprunner12 7 years, 4 months ago
Philip "Not so Brave" Davis is really making it hard for any Bahamian to continue to support the PLP ......... He and Wayne Munroe need to just stop making a public spectacle of themselves with this false sense of outrage about FNM "witch hunting" ........... He needs to go to Minnis like Nicodemus and beg forgiveness, hand over the rest of the PLP thieves, and lay low for a year.
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