The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Free National Movement Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson admitted yesterday the Minnis administration is “maybe not moving as quickly as one would like them to,” however he added another six months may be needed to give a proper assessment of the new government.  

His statement came as today marks 100 days since the administration’s first Cabinet meeting. Last Friday marked 100 days since the FNM was overwhelmingly voted into office. 

An official in the Minnis administration said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis would not release a statement marking the first 100 days.

“(It’s) not a marker that the prime minister recognises,” the official said: “(He’s) continuing to do the work for which he was elected, beginning with the cleanup.”

The Minnis administration took a ten-week break from the House of Assembly in July that will end on September 13 when Parliament resumes. It is expected that the new government’s legislative agenda will ramp up once this happens. 

“What I hear people saying is they want to hear the plan which means (the administration) needs to do a better job of explaining what they have in mind,” Mr Watson said when contacted yesterday. “I think they are maybe not moving as quickly as one would like them to but I think they are making some decisions that appear to be in the interest of going forward. There are a number of things one might do immediately after getting into office but it takes a while to plan a programme of action that begins to be seen by the general public. We should judge them after six months or so.”

While an administration that spent five years in opposition “should have a plan” for what it wants to do before entering office, Mr Watson said “the circumstances” the administration finds itself in are relevant.

“You don’t really know all the things going on when you’re in opposition,” he said. “You hear many stories but don’t really know until you look at the records and books.”

The new administration is encountering a similar situation to what the first Ingraham administration did in 1992, Mr Watson said, adding that this scenario may be even worse.

“I thought it was a very bad situation in 1992, but the financial situation of the country now is much worse,” he said. 

Still, blaming the former Christie administration for the country’s woes will wear on Bahamians, he said. 

“Sooner or later they have to speak in clear and unambiguous terms about what their plans are.” 

In a statement yesterday, the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) labelled the administration’s first 100 days “unfulfilled.”

“Armed with a myriad of pre-election promises on how to improve the lives of Bahamians, the Minnis led opposition rode a wave of anti-PLP sentiment into office and declared that after five years of lackluster governance it would finally be ‘the people’s time.’ “Unfortunately, more than 100 days into this term, it has become painfully clear that the FNM, though clearly capable of winning the election, was not prepared to govern,” DNA Leader Branville McCartney noted.

He chided the administration for not offering detailed plans on the way forward.

“While the government has been consumed with the arrests of former politicians––a move which in isolation is an important part of efforts to root out corruption––they have ignored the needs of the persons who voted them in,” Mr McCartney added. “Families being crushed by the weight of the oppressive value added tax and who were promised a repeal of that tax on poplar bread basket items, continue to suffer. Business owners and budding entrepreneurs who have, over the years found themselves buried by miles of red tape, and who were promised a greater sense of ease in conducting their affairs, continue to face challenges. Similarly, Bahamians in Over-the-Hill communities who bought into the prime minister’s promised initiatives for the revitalisation of those areas have been left with absolutely nothing to show for all the PM’s grandiose promises.”

Aggressive

Yesterday, Attorney General Carl Bethel said the government will unveil an “aggressive legislative agenda of reform and improvements” starting next month.

While he did not give specifics, he mentioned the FNM’s support for the appointment of an ombudsmen and said “there may be some movement towards that.” He suggested that when Parliament returns, the administration’s focus on good governance policies, a major talking point for the FNM, will only intensify. 

Mr Bethel said: “A host of radical changes are going to be enacted that we hope will become institutional features of governance in this country and bring a higher level of performance for this government while subsequently enhancing integrity and enshrining the highest conduct for officials.”

The Minnis administration has not placed a timeline on most of its promises, nor has it been specific about much of what it intends to do. A call from the National Congress of Trade Unions of the Bahamas (NCTUB) last week to start to give timelines for its priorities was seemingly ignored by the administration, despite requests for comment from the press.

In the lead-up to the May general election, one area for which the FNM came closest to giving a timeline for implementation involved value added tax (VAT) repeal on some items.

During a rally in Grand Bahama on May 5, Dr Minnis said: “Your FNM will immediately remove VAT from bread-basket items to bring relief to the less fortunate.”

However, after coming to office, officials suggested this promise would have to wait as the Minnis administration cleans up the fiscal mess left behind by the Christie administration.

Among its promises, the government has pledged to create and enforce anti-corruption legislation for parliamentarians and public officers; bring legislation to amend the Public Disclosures Act to include a campaign finance component and allow for a matter to be referred to an independent prosecutor.

The Minnis administration also pledged to enact legislation to establish the Office of an Independent Director of Public Prosecutions.

The party has also pledged to hold a referendum to constitute an independent Electoral Commission and Boundaries Commission, introduce term limits for prime ministers and introduce a system of recall for non-performing members of Parliament.