The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

The lone FNM voice who failed to back the Speaker yesterday was Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine, who argued the events of February 7 took the parliament to an “all-time low”.

He said what has taken place reflected much of what Bahamians have disdained about politics within the last 25 years.

“People out there don’t like what they’ve been seeing and hearing in here,” he said. “How can an establishment that is so nationally high bring us to an all-time low? How does a place with supposedly honourable men and women display such dishonourable conduct?

“The message the people are sending is that they’ve seen this movie before. The cast might presently be different but the plot, the scenery and the performance are very vivid and familiar.

“The people have asked me to share some of the scenes from the last performance by another cast. They reminded me of how my leader was once leader of the opposition, and how he had been named and how members then sought to block the police from getting to him. They reminded me of another time when the entire opposition walked out of the House and they were not suspended by the then Speaker, and one of his members stayed behind, in the person of Mr Edison Key.

“They reminded me of how my present leader, who was once leader of the opposition, was always being bombarded and berated by the then government as to who is the leader, the man or the woman? Does it sound familiar?

“They reminded me how the then government would stick their chest out, bang on their desks and laugh at the opposition who would always remind them they have the numbers. That was the movie the Bahamian people were watching between 2012 and 2017. It’s now 2018 and the script is so familiar. This is why the people say: same movie, different cast. All of us in this honourable place know how that movie ended; than in and of itself should cause us to write an entirely different script.

“The people of The Bahamas wish for us to elevate our speech and behaviour in this place. They want maturity and consciousness from their representatives. A message from the people of Pineridge and by extension Grand Bahama and The Bahamas: the people are mad with the present opposition that’s why they are where they presently are, in opposition. While they are mad with the present opposition, resulting in them being where they are, the people of the Bahamas, supporters included of our government, are highly disappointed in our performance.”