Press Statement
Bradley B Roberts
Chairman, Progressive Liberal Party
FNM Chairman is clearly too idle
9th July 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fresh off an FNM conclave, one would have thought that itsleadership would fulfill their pledge of offering national policy alternativesbut the continued incoherent and aimless ramblings and smear tactics of CharlesMaynard have dashed any hope of that happening and will cause the FNM to losemore of its appeal to the Bahamian people.
My appeal firstly is to the leader of the FNM to findsomething, anything constructive for his chairman to do because his chairman clearly is too idle.
First Mr. Maynard claimed that the Prime Minister Christiewas late in appointing the statutory boards and committees. It turns out that whileit took PM Christie just 62 days to complete his appointments, it took the FNMgovernment 67 days to complete the same task. The PLP government was quickerand more decisive in concluding this responsibility of governance.
So he lost that argument, but as if that wasn’t enough, Mr.Maynard is again in the media seeking to obfuscate and smear people by babbling about old PLP’s and how the PLP government should appoint its new generation of leaders.
I categorically denybeing involved in any suspicious deals during my tenure as Minister of Works & Utilities. Charles Maynard’s sick suggestion is all part and parcel of the long standing and failed agenda of the FNM to obfuscate through the use of smear tactics. Charles Maynard andthe FNM had five years to review and examine any and all events of my formerMinistry and to present facts to substantiate any bogus allegations and to datethey have failed to do so. I demand that Charles Maynard unconditionally retracts his bogus allegation or face a defamation law suit.
On the issue of old PLP’s, Charles Maynard must have bitten his tongue as clearly he has forgotten that Sir William Allen age 76 who severed as an advisor to the Ministry ofFinance, Edison Key BAIC Board Chairman was 73 when he served, Frank Watson age 72 who served as Chairman of the Airport Authority and the list goes on.
Maynard may not have come to grips with this, but the FNM lost the general elections and is no longer the government and secondly the PLP has no interest in what Maynard has to say because it adds no value to the national discourse.
The salient national issues confronting The Bahamas are thatunemployment and crime are unacceptably high; the government’s short-termcredit is just about ‘maxed out’ and the national debt could get worse beforeit gets better. The PLP government inherited this national mess from the oustedFNM government whose failed policies and general incompetence significantly contributed to this sorry state of affairs.
Charles Maynard and the FNM who got us into this mess havenot a clue as to how to navigate this country out of these crises. If his public ranting is any indication of his party’s plan for this country or theirreadiness to govern, then it is more certain now than ever that the Bahamian people in their wisdom made the right decision on May 7th.