The Tribune

IT’S taken the better part of half a year, but PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis is at least on the verge of tabling his resolution of no confidence in Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Well, so he says, but then he originally announced those plans back in July. He then postponed them because of Hurricane Dorian – you can do the maths on how much later September is from July 26.

The matter itself brings back the spectre of the long-rumbling row over the post office – and after the long delay and the resignation of Brent Symonette anyway, Mr Davis might find it hard to muster up much public interest – as hard in fact as he’ll find it for the resolution to pass in the face of an overwhelming number of FNM votes on the other side.

Some questions do still remain over the post office deal, so the debate in the House may nudge loose an answer or two extra over the specifics of the phone call Mr Symonette described with the Prime Minister to discuss terms on the lease.

But beyond that, it’s hard to see this as little more than a publicity stunt – a chance for the PLP leader to get behind a microphone and criticise Dr Minnis again.

It’s always interesting to see Mr Davis call for people to rise above partisan politics – as solidly partisan as he often is. Where, for example, are his condemnations of the behaviour of fellow PLP MPs in the previous government, such as Jerome Fitzgerald? In fact, at the time of the 2017 election, Mr Davis proclaimed that Fitzgerald was the PLP’s man in Marathon.

This isn’t to point fingers at the other side and say look what they did – but if you’re going to talk about rising above partisan politics, people will notice when you conspicuously fail to condemn your own.

At a time when there are so many issues facing the country – the sky-high unemployment after Hurricane Dorian, the financial costs of the storm, the problems with immigration, the escalating murder count – it feels like a use of Parliamentary time that could be better spent on finding solutions rather than an excuse for mud-slinging.

If the resolution comes, there is no apparent path for it to pass – but that won’t stop Mr Davis from holding a press conference afterwards.

So good luck, Mr Davis, as you muster the votes of your three fellow PLP MPs and any stray votes you can coax from unsettled FNMs – but this feels exactly like the kind of partisanship you’re calling on others to reject.

Lanisha can’t catch a break

Design choices don’t seem to work out well for Lanisha Rolle.

The Youth, Sports and Culture Minister famously came under criticism last month for handing out medals to young people at a Youth Parliament event in October.

In fact, so far out of line was she that the Prime Minister himself weighed in and told her to repay the government the $582.40 the medals cost.

She’ll be hoping she doesn’t have to dig into her pockets for the latest design choice she has been associated with – the national Christmas tree in Rawson Square, costing “less than $20,000” according to executive director of culture Rowena Poitier-Sutherland, who went on to say she couldn’t say how much the cost was exactly. Why not? It’s public money.

The first pictures of the tree – which you can see on page one today – have prompted memes and ridicule on social media, in the same way as trees wrapped in cardboard led to much mockery in 2016 under the previous government.

People have criticised the new tree for the “fake and chunky” decorations, one Facebook commenter saying how “every year seems to be getting worse”.

Mrs Rolle has asked the public to wait until all the decorations are completed – which is fair – so we presume we can anticipate a significant change from the current appearance, yes?

We shall see. We certainly hope we shall see better.