Christie: WikiLeaks a learning experience
CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com
Former Prime Minister Perry Christie says public officials should view the WikiLeaks cables as a learning experience and added that the release of the diplomatic documents have allowed Bahamians to see more clearly the actions of their leaders.
“This kind of exposure that we’re getting now is more to give Bahamians an understanding that these things happened and perhaps at the end of the process those of use who are in public life clearly will be more disciplined in any discussions we have (with U.S. Embassy officials) moving forward, “ said Christie in a recent interview with The Nassau Guardian.
He added, “I think as a result of what we have seen, the entire world will learn from the experience of the leaks.
“That is very obvious because one can not take anything for granted.
“When someone sits with you as prime minister, a communication is made to Washington based on what an ambassador says was his experience with a prime minister, who is me, and there is no third party to certify the truth of that.
“And so you ask me, did I say it and I said it is not the kind of thing I would say to an ambassador.”
Christie in that respect was referring specifically to a comment attributed to him in the cables, that he did not appoint former Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller to his cabinet because of his qualifications, but to keep an eye on him.
He denied making the comment and suggested that something he said may have been taken out of context.
“Leslie Miller and I enjoy an incredibly strong relationship today,” Christie added.
In the cables, U.S. Embassy officials are overwhelmingly critical of Christie and his style of leadership.
After he called elections in 2007, an Embassy official wrote, “The timing of the elections is typical of Christie’s style of governance — uncertain, waiting until the last possible moment, with action forced by outside events rather than strategic planning.”
Comparing current Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Christie, the official wrote: “Ingraham is known from his time as prime minister as a decisive leader who accomplished much while suppressing dissension. His critics claim he rode roughshod over opponents.
“Christie has a well-deserved reputation as a waffling, indecisive leader, who procrastinates and often fails to act altogether while awaiting an elusive consensus in his Cabinet.”
Christie told The Guardian he is disappointed as a public official that the Embassy officials “seem to have taken on the FNM propaganda on me, I mean even to minute details”.
“They seem to mirror what has been said,” he said.
In another cable that was written in 2003 after Ingraham had a meeting with a U.S. Embassy official, the then former prime minister was quoted as saying Christie has always been weak and indecisive and lacks vision, but is a good man.
Ingraham, according to the cable, also described the Christie Cabinet as a “collection of incompetents.”
Christie told The Guardian that he was not surprised that Ingraham expressed such strong views about him.
“I have strong views about him,” the opposition leader added. “I don’t know whether I would have said it to anyone.”
Christie brushed aside repeated suggestions in the cables that he did not have a firm grip on his cabinet.
“Anyone who sat around that table would know that I was in charge of my cabinet, and that whether it’s foreign affairs or any other subject, that I would have been very assiduous in understanding all of the issues,” he said.
“The one thing though that I think was very clear to me is that I had the opportunity to meet with the president of the United States of America (George W. Bush) on a number of occasions, one very formal visit with two other leaders in the region.
“And I used that opportunity to impress upon him all of the principles of the relationship between the United States and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, so that there was no misunderstanding.”
Christie said he also made it clear to then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visited The Bahamas that it is important for The Bahamas to have a relationship with Cuba.
“I made it very clear that when it came to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and its relationship with Cuba and other countries in the region we were in the region and it was a matter of necessity that we understood what was taking place in the region, including Cuba, and that it ought to be for the benefit of the Americans that they would have a friend like the Bahamas sitting in places like Cuba and Haiti and being able to represent the fact that we enjoy relationships that are very strong historically and will continue to be so,” he said.
Christie said he does not think the cables will hurt him politically.
“At the end of the day you try as a public figure to get people to know you, to know who you are, what you’re like and your integrity,” he said.
“And so, when Prime Minister Ingraham, for example, who spent near 20 years of his life in a direct partnership with me, trusting his future and his family’s future with me, I know he knows me.
“I know he knows my integrity. I know he knows the degree of my responsibility and so when he mischaracterizes me, it is all politics. He is very adept at it and oftentimes I chide myself for not being able to match him in kind in being able to do it, but you know I can’t be Hubert Ingraham.”
Christie also responded to comments attributed to Mount Tabor Baptist Church Bishop Neil Ellis.
Referring to Ellis’ alleged comment to an embassy official that he (Christie) was not a “true man of God”, Christie responded with a chuckle, “Well, he might be right.”
“The bishop has an assignment and the bishop understands people,” he added.
“He knows my heart. We’ve been close enough for him to know that. He knows the respect I have for him and I would expect him to be honest in his deliberations.
“If he doesn’t have a clear understanding of my commitment to the Lord and Christianity and how I manifest it…I think he’s very safe in what he said about me — not being a true man of God.
“And I assume a true man of God are people like him.”
Another cable suggested that Christie did not have a grip on foreign affairs matters while he was prime minister and deferred to Fred Mitchell, who served as foreign affairs minister in his administration.
In that 2006 cable, Christie responded to then U.S. Ambassador John Rood’s concerns over The Bahamas’ voting record in the United Nations and limited multilateral cooperation with the U.S. at the U.N.
“In response to the ambassador’s concerns, Christie distanced himself from Mitchell’s handling of Bahamian policy, saying ‘foreign policy is driven by Fred and Ministry of Foreign Affairs without involvement of my office’,” the cable said.
Asked to respond to this, Christie explained to The Guardian that as a prime minister he did not micromanage.
“That is what a prime minister like me would have tried to do with ambassadors to stop them from coming directly to the Office of Prime Minister unless it was a matter of great import and to channel whatever they do through the foreign minister,” he said.
“Fred Mitchell was an incredibly adept foreign minister and was recognized in this region as that. Whatever one wants to say, he was very, very good at performing the obligations of his office and therefore I had great confidence in Fred Mitchell being able to receive information from the Americans, interpret that information and pass it on to me and to colleagues.
“And to that extent I was trying to create a culture that foreign affairs was sufficiently important that you didn’t have to have a prime minister trying to wield the power [over] the office of the foreign minister.”
Christie said Mitchell communicated with the Office of the Prime Minister practically every day, and still communicates with him often as shadow minister of foreign affairs.
Jun 14, 2011
thenassauguardian
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Philip ‘Brave’ Davis - Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader: “I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,”...
Davis affirms commitment to Christie
BRENT DEAN
NG Deputy News Editor
thenassauguardian
brentldean@nasguard.com
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis yesterday publicly affirmed his commitment to assisting Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie in his bid to become prime minister again after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told Parliament on Thursday that Davis recently told Free National Movement (FNM) supporters Christie is not his leader.
“I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,” said Davis in a statement.
“No political mischief, false accusations, fabricated stories or propaganda will change the widely held public view that Hubert Ingraham must go and must go now.
“Our country deserves better than Hubert Ingraham and the FNM and their lame attempts to distract from their failures in every major area of governance.”
Ingraham also said PLP Elizabeth Member of Parliament Ryan Pinder, who was also on the recent trip to Cat Island where Davis’ alleged remarks were made, said that he is allied to Davis.
“Mr. Ingraham is politically desperate. He can see the writing on the wall. It is sad that of all the serious matters facing our country and the important matters discussed and debated in Parliament over the past few days that such utterances could find a place of prominence in the news cycle,” said Davis, who is also the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP and the PLP’s national campaign coordinator.
Referring to a United States Embassy cable from 2003 published by The Nassau Guardian via WikiLeaks, Davis said Ingraham and the FNM have their own divisions.
“What is factual and supported by evidence though is that Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette does not have the support of his leader, Hubert Ingraham,” said Davis.
Ingraham told the Americans, according to the cable, that the best thing that could happen would be for Symonette to challenge for the FNM leadership, because he “would be beaten so soundly that it would shatter all his illusions.”
But at the FNM convention more than two years later, Symonette did not challenge for the leadership. He went for deputy leader and won. He was made deputy prime minister when the party won at the polls in 2007.
It is known within the PLP that Davis would someday like to be the leader of the party. However, based on Christie’s overwhelming victory at the PLP’s October 2009 convention, it appears that Christie will hold on to the post of PLP leader until he decides to give it up. More than 80 percent of voting PLPs supported Christie at that convention.
Jun 11, 2011
thenassauguardian
BRENT DEAN
NG Deputy News Editor
thenassauguardian
brentldean@nasguard.com
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis yesterday publicly affirmed his commitment to assisting Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie in his bid to become prime minister again after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told Parliament on Thursday that Davis recently told Free National Movement (FNM) supporters Christie is not his leader.
“I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,” said Davis in a statement.
“No political mischief, false accusations, fabricated stories or propaganda will change the widely held public view that Hubert Ingraham must go and must go now.
“Our country deserves better than Hubert Ingraham and the FNM and their lame attempts to distract from their failures in every major area of governance.”
Ingraham also said PLP Elizabeth Member of Parliament Ryan Pinder, who was also on the recent trip to Cat Island where Davis’ alleged remarks were made, said that he is allied to Davis.
“Mr. Ingraham is politically desperate. He can see the writing on the wall. It is sad that of all the serious matters facing our country and the important matters discussed and debated in Parliament over the past few days that such utterances could find a place of prominence in the news cycle,” said Davis, who is also the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP and the PLP’s national campaign coordinator.
Referring to a United States Embassy cable from 2003 published by The Nassau Guardian via WikiLeaks, Davis said Ingraham and the FNM have their own divisions.
“What is factual and supported by evidence though is that Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette does not have the support of his leader, Hubert Ingraham,” said Davis.
Ingraham told the Americans, according to the cable, that the best thing that could happen would be for Symonette to challenge for the FNM leadership, because he “would be beaten so soundly that it would shatter all his illusions.”
But at the FNM convention more than two years later, Symonette did not challenge for the leadership. He went for deputy leader and won. He was made deputy prime minister when the party won at the polls in 2007.
It is known within the PLP that Davis would someday like to be the leader of the party. However, based on Christie’s overwhelming victory at the PLP’s October 2009 convention, it appears that Christie will hold on to the post of PLP leader until he decides to give it up. More than 80 percent of voting PLPs supported Christie at that convention.
Jun 11, 2011
thenassauguardian
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Gangsterism and politics: Bahamian politicians take note of the deadly end result of politics and corruption
Electronic fence needed between gangsterism and politics
tribune242 editorial
ANYONE who has followed the rise and fall of Jamaica's drug kingpin, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, or read KC Samuels' account of Coke's meteoric rise and eventual fall into the arms of a waiting "Uncle Sam", should be grateful that the Bahamas' own drug kingpin, "Ninety" Knowles, was eventually extradited to the US before he had time to consolidate his own growing empire.
By the time Dudus, who was born into a life of crime, had run his course, he was becoming more powerful even than the Jamaican government. However, before his saga is done, what might be revealed during his trial in the US, could well bring down the JLP government of Bruce Golding.
Dudus' father, Jim Brown, who died mysteriously in a fire in his prison cell in Jamaica, was Prime Minister Edward Seaga's man. Brown was a don who could be relied on to deliver the votes from Tivoli Gardens for Seaga's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Brown headed the Shower Posse and violence and bloodshed entered Jamaican politics. The politicians and hoodlums were too close for comfort right up to last year when "the President" - Dudus himself - challenged the prime minister, who under pressure had agreed his extradition to the US.
The don of Tivoli, who by this time had taken his father's criminal enterprise and built it into an international empire, was receiving all the Jamaican government's construction contracts, as well as collecting from his international drug-dealing enterprises. Over time he had built himself such a strong outpost that by the time the US government targeted him, he had an armed force ready to challenge his arrest. The residents of Tivoli barricaded themselves in to protect their don and opened fire on the forces sent to arrest him. By the time the armed forces had quelled the uprising, 74 Jamaicans, including a police officer, were dead, but Dudus was still on the run.
For more than a month Dudus eluded the authorities. When he was eventually caught, disguised in a woman's wig, he waived his rights and agreed to be extradited to the US to face drugs and weapons charges.
Tivoli Gardens was former prime minister Edward Seaga's stronghold. Seaga took care of the residents. Dudus, taking on his father's mantle as head of the Posse, pushed the prime minister's care and protection of Tivoli residents to a new level.
Dudus had two faces. To the people of Tivoli and all those who paid him homage he was a good man, a generous man, a man without blemish. However, to others he was a gangster, a crook, a drug and gun peddler - a threat to society. The Americans described him as a dangerous narcotics kingpin.
Golding's government fought the extradition request. Golding explained that the attorney general and justice minister had refrained from signing Dudus' extradition because the evidence as outlined by the US was obtained illegally. Eventually an embarrassed Golding, with calls for his resignation echoing in his ears, apologised and signed.
Here in the Bahamas, employing every delaying tactic in the courts, "Ninety" Knowles from his jail cell in Fox Hill prison, held the Americans at bay for six years. President George Bush had personally labeled him an international narcotics kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpins Designation Act. He was described as the head of a multinational drug organization and in the US was found guilty of drug conspiracy and sentenced to 28 years in a Florida prison. The jury recommended that his US$19.5 million in assets be forfeited to the US government.
However, Knowles' extradition created a furor in Nassau, and even drew out placard-carrying demonstrators when then foreign affairs minister Fred Mitchell signed a warrant of surrender before Knowles had exhausted his legal appeals. The Court of Appeal recorded its "serious concern" at the manner that Knowles had been removed from the Bahamas.
However, legally right or wrong, it was the best decision for the Bahamas. Already Knowles, like Dudus, was building his little empire of supporters. He was generous with his ill-gotten gains, which he distributed liberally among the poor.
According to Wikileaks, a US diplomat wrote in November 2006 that Knowles' extradition would lead to the "withdrawal of an important source of election funding." Yes, Knowles was a menace to society.
But as Samuels concluded in his book "Jamaica's first President - Dudus, 1992-2010" -- "What needs to be realised here even more than anything else, is the deadly end result of politics and corruption. Duduses are a dime a dozen, hundreds have been born since he was extradited. He was not the first and he won't be the last to face such a fate, and therein again is the problem -- because if Jamaica is to move forward as a nation, and his type of behaviour is to be confined to the pages of history, then the line between gangsterism and politics must become an electronic fence."
Bahamian politicians take note.
Friday, June 10, 2011
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
ANYONE who has followed the rise and fall of Jamaica's drug kingpin, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, or read KC Samuels' account of Coke's meteoric rise and eventual fall into the arms of a waiting "Uncle Sam", should be grateful that the Bahamas' own drug kingpin, "Ninety" Knowles, was eventually extradited to the US before he had time to consolidate his own growing empire.
By the time Dudus, who was born into a life of crime, had run his course, he was becoming more powerful even than the Jamaican government. However, before his saga is done, what might be revealed during his trial in the US, could well bring down the JLP government of Bruce Golding.
Dudus' father, Jim Brown, who died mysteriously in a fire in his prison cell in Jamaica, was Prime Minister Edward Seaga's man. Brown was a don who could be relied on to deliver the votes from Tivoli Gardens for Seaga's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Brown headed the Shower Posse and violence and bloodshed entered Jamaican politics. The politicians and hoodlums were too close for comfort right up to last year when "the President" - Dudus himself - challenged the prime minister, who under pressure had agreed his extradition to the US.
The don of Tivoli, who by this time had taken his father's criminal enterprise and built it into an international empire, was receiving all the Jamaican government's construction contracts, as well as collecting from his international drug-dealing enterprises. Over time he had built himself such a strong outpost that by the time the US government targeted him, he had an armed force ready to challenge his arrest. The residents of Tivoli barricaded themselves in to protect their don and opened fire on the forces sent to arrest him. By the time the armed forces had quelled the uprising, 74 Jamaicans, including a police officer, were dead, but Dudus was still on the run.
For more than a month Dudus eluded the authorities. When he was eventually caught, disguised in a woman's wig, he waived his rights and agreed to be extradited to the US to face drugs and weapons charges.
Tivoli Gardens was former prime minister Edward Seaga's stronghold. Seaga took care of the residents. Dudus, taking on his father's mantle as head of the Posse, pushed the prime minister's care and protection of Tivoli residents to a new level.
Dudus had two faces. To the people of Tivoli and all those who paid him homage he was a good man, a generous man, a man without blemish. However, to others he was a gangster, a crook, a drug and gun peddler - a threat to society. The Americans described him as a dangerous narcotics kingpin.
Golding's government fought the extradition request. Golding explained that the attorney general and justice minister had refrained from signing Dudus' extradition because the evidence as outlined by the US was obtained illegally. Eventually an embarrassed Golding, with calls for his resignation echoing in his ears, apologised and signed.
Here in the Bahamas, employing every delaying tactic in the courts, "Ninety" Knowles from his jail cell in Fox Hill prison, held the Americans at bay for six years. President George Bush had personally labeled him an international narcotics kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpins Designation Act. He was described as the head of a multinational drug organization and in the US was found guilty of drug conspiracy and sentenced to 28 years in a Florida prison. The jury recommended that his US$19.5 million in assets be forfeited to the US government.
However, Knowles' extradition created a furor in Nassau, and even drew out placard-carrying demonstrators when then foreign affairs minister Fred Mitchell signed a warrant of surrender before Knowles had exhausted his legal appeals. The Court of Appeal recorded its "serious concern" at the manner that Knowles had been removed from the Bahamas.
However, legally right or wrong, it was the best decision for the Bahamas. Already Knowles, like Dudus, was building his little empire of supporters. He was generous with his ill-gotten gains, which he distributed liberally among the poor.
According to Wikileaks, a US diplomat wrote in November 2006 that Knowles' extradition would lead to the "withdrawal of an important source of election funding." Yes, Knowles was a menace to society.
But as Samuels concluded in his book "Jamaica's first President - Dudus, 1992-2010" -- "What needs to be realised here even more than anything else, is the deadly end result of politics and corruption. Duduses are a dime a dozen, hundreds have been born since he was extradited. He was not the first and he won't be the last to face such a fate, and therein again is the problem -- because if Jamaica is to move forward as a nation, and his type of behaviour is to be confined to the pages of history, then the line between gangsterism and politics must become an electronic fence."
Bahamian politicians take note.
Friday, June 10, 2011
tribune242 editorial
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Who is Wang Lequan?
Loose Ends in Western China
I've noticed in the past few days that people are getting tired of Tibet as an endless news story (kind of like the Iraq War). Even so, I feel compelled to continue posting interesting tidbits gleaned from here and there, if at a more sensible pace.
There've been two stories published in the past 24 hours that analyze the party machinations behind the crackdowns in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas. A propaganda-style piece in The Sunday Times is of particular interest to this blog as Xinjiang boss Wang Lequan is fingered as the shot-caller for this whole mess:
The real mastermind of Chinese policy towards the restive ethnic minorities is a 67-year-old lifetime communist functionary named Wang Lequan.
Wang has proclaimed himself to be the top terrorist target in China. Nominally, he heads the party in Xinjiang, which, like Tibet, is a vast, remote and resource-rich region troubled by separatism.
However, Wang sits on the powerful politburo in Beijing and has assumed overall direction of policy in both places. He devised the model that has stifled Muslim culture in Xinjiang, staged political trials and executions, poured in millions of Chinese settlers and extracted mineral and energy resources to feed the economy....
His henchman, now applying the master's methods in Tibet, is Zhang Qingli, the region's sharp-tongued party secretary. Zhang is the man who called the Dalai Lama "a wolf in monk's clothes, a devil with a human face". He rose up the hierarchy in Xinjiang and was transferred to Tibet in 2005 as a reward for his loyalty.
What's up with phrases like faceless trio, mastermind, and henchman in a supposedly unbiased report from a respected British paper? Sounds more like the kind of language you'd expect from Xinhua.
Zhang is also mentioned prominently in a New York Times article examining the initially weak response of security forces confronted with rampaging protesters in Lhasa. The story subtly accuses him of 'pulling a Hu Jintao' as events unfolded:
Ultimately, the man responsible for public order in Lhasa is Mr. Zhang, Tibet’s party chief. Mr. Zhang is a protégé of President Hu Jintao, whose own political career took flight after he crushed the last major rebellion in Tibet in 1989.
According to one biographer, Mr. Hu actually made himself unavailable during the 1989 riots when the paramilitary police needed guidance on whether to crack down. The police did so and Mr. Hu got credit for keeping order, but he also assured himself deniability if the crackdown had failed, the biographer wrote.
Mr. Zhang also has an excuse; he was at the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
And Reuters has been running a story saying that Chinese officials are accusing the Dalai Lama "of colluding with Muslim Uighur separatists in China's western Xinjiang region." I haven't been able to find the original source of this accusation... anyone else?
Although things are calm at the moment, tensions in Xinjiang are high with the surrounding provinces in flames. Just today I've heard rumors that (a) there was a bus bombing in Urumqi last night, (b) Han Chinese students were killed by Uyghurs in Kuqa, and (c) a Han Chinese policeman was killed in Kuqa by Uyghurs. Probably nothing to these whispers, but anxiety creates this kind of wild-fire rumor mongering.
March 24, 2008
Branville McCartney - the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader is risking his political career
Third party support
thenassauguardian editorial
Since the resignation of Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney from the Free National Movement (FNM), the national airwaves have been dominated by talk of a third political party to challenge the FNM and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
The last major politician to try the third party route was former PLP deputy leader Dr. Bernard Nottage in 2002 when his Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR) took on the two major parties. Dr. Nottage’s party failed and he lost his seat. CDR candidates were crushed as non-contenders at the polls.
At the time Bahamians were upset with the FNM, which was fractured and falling apart. They chose to go with a Perry Christie. He was a part of a major political force and he was also a new face to leadership. Christie ran as a “new PLP”, seeking to break with the somewhat tarnished legacy of the defeated old PLP.
At that 2002 election there was something new that was still a part of the mainstream for Bahamians to choose. Dr. Nottage could not compete with that.
Almost ten years later, a young, attractive and charismatic politician (McCartney) is trying the same thing with his Democratic National Alliance (DNA). He is not as politically accomplished as Dr. Nottage was at the time he led the CDR to defeat. However, McCartney may have an advantage.
At this general election, neither political party has anything new to offer at the leadership level. FNM leader Hubert Ingraham and PLP leader Perry Christie both entered the House of Assembly in 1977. Both men are known. Neither man can claim to be new. Neither man can suggest he can offer something he has not already offered during his long political career.
At this election it could be argued that a message could be presented, stating that Ingraham and Christie, and the FNM and the PLP, are the same thing and a new direction is needed for the country. In recent years there have been annual murder records; the down economy has persisted; and the Bahamian education system is doing poorly.
Though this environment exists, it is unclear if Bahamians will break with the PLP/FNM duopoly.
The key for any third party movement would be to determine if dissatisfaction with the parties could be harnessed into votes. If that dissatisfaction cannot be, starting a third party will only waste money.
Ultimately, Bahamians will have to decide if they will accept others at the national table of decision making or if they think only card carrying PLPs or FNMs should lead The Bahamas.
Third parties should understand what is at stake. If defeated badly at the general election, that third force will look like a joke never to be considered again.
McCartney is risking his political career.
Jun 11, 2011
thenassauguardian editorial
thenassauguardian editorial
Since the resignation of Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney from the Free National Movement (FNM), the national airwaves have been dominated by talk of a third political party to challenge the FNM and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
The last major politician to try the third party route was former PLP deputy leader Dr. Bernard Nottage in 2002 when his Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR) took on the two major parties. Dr. Nottage’s party failed and he lost his seat. CDR candidates were crushed as non-contenders at the polls.
At the time Bahamians were upset with the FNM, which was fractured and falling apart. They chose to go with a Perry Christie. He was a part of a major political force and he was also a new face to leadership. Christie ran as a “new PLP”, seeking to break with the somewhat tarnished legacy of the defeated old PLP.
At that 2002 election there was something new that was still a part of the mainstream for Bahamians to choose. Dr. Nottage could not compete with that.
Almost ten years later, a young, attractive and charismatic politician (McCartney) is trying the same thing with his Democratic National Alliance (DNA). He is not as politically accomplished as Dr. Nottage was at the time he led the CDR to defeat. However, McCartney may have an advantage.
At this general election, neither political party has anything new to offer at the leadership level. FNM leader Hubert Ingraham and PLP leader Perry Christie both entered the House of Assembly in 1977. Both men are known. Neither man can claim to be new. Neither man can suggest he can offer something he has not already offered during his long political career.
At this election it could be argued that a message could be presented, stating that Ingraham and Christie, and the FNM and the PLP, are the same thing and a new direction is needed for the country. In recent years there have been annual murder records; the down economy has persisted; and the Bahamian education system is doing poorly.
Though this environment exists, it is unclear if Bahamians will break with the PLP/FNM duopoly.
The key for any third party movement would be to determine if dissatisfaction with the parties could be harnessed into votes. If that dissatisfaction cannot be, starting a third party will only waste money.
Ultimately, Bahamians will have to decide if they will accept others at the national table of decision making or if they think only card carrying PLPs or FNMs should lead The Bahamas.
Third parties should understand what is at stake. If defeated badly at the general election, that third force will look like a joke never to be considered again.
McCartney is risking his political career.
Jun 11, 2011
thenassauguardian editorial
Philip 'Brave' Davis told Free National Movement supporters that Progressive Liberal Party Chief Perry Christie is not his leader and is "dicey" during a trip to Cat Island, claimed Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham
PM claims Philip Davis said Christie is not his leader
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
tribune242
tthompson@tribunemedia.net
PHILIP 'Brave' Davis told Free National Movement supporters that Progressive Liberal Party Chief Perry Christie is not his leader and is "dicey" during a trip to Cat Island, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham claimed.
Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder, who accompanied Mr Davis on the trip, reportedly told the same supporters that his allegiance lies with the Cat Island and Rum Cay MP and not Mr Christie.
Mr Ingraham made these revelations as he gave his summary on the 2011/2012 budget yesterday.
"The member for Cat Island who is the deputy leader of his party and who expects to replace (Mr Christie) in a short period of time, I'm told that you told some of my men in Cat Island over the weekend that Christie is not your leader and ... that Christie is dicey.
"The member for Elizabeth, somebody asked him 'I thought you supported Christie'. He turned around and said 'Brave is my man'," Mr Ingraham continued, eliciting cheers and laughs from members on his side.
During his contribution, Mr Ingraham also criticised Mr Davis for heaping blame on government for the crime problem gripping the country.
The nation's chief said Mr Davis expects government to have found a "magic" solution to crime in its four years in office and has called for more resources to be allocated to police and the justice system.
"But never have those resources been more generous and more in evidence than on our watch," said the North Abaco MP.
Mr Ingraham told Parliament that violent crime is a symptom of seeds sown 30 to 40 years ago and is closely related to the underground activities and the drug trade.
The Government plans to release the names and background of murder victims to show that many being killed are not caught in random incidents but are linked to criminal activity, said Mr Ingraham.
Friday, June 10, 2011
tribune242
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
tribune242
tthompson@tribunemedia.net
PHILIP 'Brave' Davis told Free National Movement supporters that Progressive Liberal Party Chief Perry Christie is not his leader and is "dicey" during a trip to Cat Island, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham claimed.
Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder, who accompanied Mr Davis on the trip, reportedly told the same supporters that his allegiance lies with the Cat Island and Rum Cay MP and not Mr Christie.
Mr Ingraham made these revelations as he gave his summary on the 2011/2012 budget yesterday.
"The member for Cat Island who is the deputy leader of his party and who expects to replace (Mr Christie) in a short period of time, I'm told that you told some of my men in Cat Island over the weekend that Christie is not your leader and ... that Christie is dicey.
"The member for Elizabeth, somebody asked him 'I thought you supported Christie'. He turned around and said 'Brave is my man'," Mr Ingraham continued, eliciting cheers and laughs from members on his side.
During his contribution, Mr Ingraham also criticised Mr Davis for heaping blame on government for the crime problem gripping the country.
The nation's chief said Mr Davis expects government to have found a "magic" solution to crime in its four years in office and has called for more resources to be allocated to police and the justice system.
"But never have those resources been more generous and more in evidence than on our watch," said the North Abaco MP.
Mr Ingraham told Parliament that violent crime is a symptom of seeds sown 30 to 40 years ago and is closely related to the underground activities and the drug trade.
The Government plans to release the names and background of murder victims to show that many being killed are not caught in random incidents but are linked to criminal activity, said Mr Ingraham.
Friday, June 10, 2011
tribune242
Friday, June 10, 2011
[WikiLeaks] U.S. Embassy official in a 2004 diplomatic cable: Franklyn Wilson argued that the U.S. should support Perry Christie’s hope to become a regional leader since the Bahamian prime minister was America’s “Tony Blair” inside CARICOM
Cable: Wilson defended Christie to Americans
BY CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com
Diplomatic cables reveal detailed discussions American diplomats had with prominent Bahamian businessman Franklyn Wilson who repeatedly defended the Pindling administration’s actions during the 1980s drug era, and also defended the Christie administration’s “record of inaction.”
“Mr. Wilson emotionally presented the case for Perry Christie, calling him the United States’ best friend inside CARICOM councils,” wrote a U.S. Embassy official in a 2004 cable.
The diplomat wrote that Wilson argued during a September 30, 2004 luncheon that the U.S. should support Christie’s hope to become a regional leader since the Bahamian prime minister was America’s “Tony Blair” inside CARICOM.
“Wilson again raised the prime minister’s belief that he was ignored and left exposed by the United States during events surrounding the resignation of Haitian ex-President Aristide and that he should have been consulted by senior [U.S. government] officials,” the diplomat wrote.
“Wilson claimed, however, that Christie bore no grudges at being left out of the loop by the United States and Canada.”
According to the cable, Wilson remained loyal to Christie, telling diplomats that Christie’s personality and manner made it possible for him to become friends with everyone, including President George W. Bush, thereby allowing him to exert a moderating and calming influence within CARICOM to counter the proclivities of that body’s more extreme members.
Wilson compared Christie to the late former prime minister Sir Lynden Pindling, saying Sir Lynden had quietly and effectively served as a moderating influence during the 1970s and thus served U.S. strategic interests, the cable said.
“What was true some 30 years ago, argued Wilson, was equally true today,” the embassy official said.
“The United States, continued Wilson, needed to ignore tactical deviations and remember that strategically Perry Christie was America’s best friend and supporter in the region.”
According to the cable, Wilson declared several times that the United States should support and enhance Christie’s stature within CARICOM in its own self-interest.
Wilson reportedly expressed the view that Christie believed that he had been in the forefront of the CARICOM effort to persuade the ex-Haitian president to peacefully resign his office.
“Given his leadership role in the effort, argued Wilson, the United States owed it to Christie to have received a call from senior [U.S. government] officials, or the White House, advising him ‘when the United States decided to change direction on Aristide’ and ‘remove him from power’.”
According to the cable, a U.S. Embassy official reminded Wilson that Christie had been briefed on the rapid spiral of breaking events leading up to Aristide demitting office and that CARICOM “was not an organization well-suited to handling crises.”
Noting that Prime Minister Christie was scheduled to speak at the approaching Miami Herald’s annual Americas Conference, the U.S. ambassador expressed the hope that Christie would take a positive position that reflected the deep, long-standing and overall positive relationship between the United States and the region, the cable said.
It noted that the theme of Christie’s remarks at the conference was ‘Friend or Foe? Can the Caribbean and the U.S. Repair Their Damaged Relations?’
The cable said Christie “feigned surprise” and dismay at the topic assigned to him when he had an opportunity to speak to a U.S. Embassy official before the trip.
The official expressed to Christie, according to the cable, the ambassador’s hope that he “would use his spotlight to focus on the overwhelmingly positive bilateral and mutually beneficial multilateral regional relationship and not engage in an unproductive negative analysis.”
SIR LYNDEN’S LEGACY
Referring again to Wilson, the embassy official noted that he has been closely identified with the PLP throughout his life and holds Sir Lynden “in a status close to sainthood.”
The official wrote that Wilson was a member of Christie’s “kitchen cabinet” and one of the PLP’s principal financiers and fundraisers.
“He is accustomed to serving as a transmission belt both to send, and to receive, messages intended for the prime minister,” the cable said.
The official wrote: “Wilson is very proud of his rise to meteoric wealth and, during the course of the meeting, repeatedly referred to his humble past, when, as the youngest of 11 children in a working class family, he had to sleep on the floor until his older sisters grew up and moved out of the house and a bed opened up for him.
“He is fanatically devoted to Pindling, who identified him, became his godfather, and opened the doors that allowed Wilson to be successful.”
In a 2003 cable, an embassy official described Wilson as a “bombastic speaker who frequently cuts others off in conversation.”
The official wrote that Wilson “spent much of the hour and half meeting offering a passionate defense of the record of Sir Lynden Pindling.”
“He insisted that allegations of narcotics corruption against Pindling were completely unfounded and claimed that the Commission of Inquiry bore him out on this point,” the cable said.
“He brushed aside questions about how Sir Lynden had amassed his obvious wealth during his years in office and the influence of notorious Colombian narcotics kingpin Carlos Lehder, and said that the stories about Pindling were the result of jealousy and ingratitude, a plot orchestrated by former U.S. Ambassador Carol Boyd Hallett and former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who ‘wouldn’t have been anything without Pindling’.”
Wilson told the Americans, according to the cable, “no one has cooperated more” with the U.S. on drug interdiction than Pindling and said the seizure statistics bear him out on this assertion.
The diplomat wrote: “He expressed great scorn toward Hubert Ingraham for betraying Pindling then setting out to destroy his reputation after Ingraham became prime minister, which Wilson claimed destroyed Pindling’s health and led to his death.
“Wilson said that only when Pindling neared his death did Ingraham ‘repent’ and seek reconciliation with Pindling on the latter’s death bed.
“Wilson claimed that the impressive sendoff given to Pindling by Ingraham’s government when he died in 2000 was proof that Ingraham felt remorseful about what he had done to Pindling’s reputation.”
According to the cable, Wilson believed that the seeds of the PLP’s 2002 election victory were laid at Pindling’s funeral, as the state ceremony and effusive eulogies allowed the PLP to escape from its image of corruption.
In the cable, Wilson and Bishop Neil Ellis were described as “the two individuals outside of the Bahamian government considered to have the most influence on Prime Minister Perry Christie’s government.”
Jun 09, 2011
thenassauguardian
BY CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com
Diplomatic cables reveal detailed discussions American diplomats had with prominent Bahamian businessman Franklyn Wilson who repeatedly defended the Pindling administration’s actions during the 1980s drug era, and also defended the Christie administration’s “record of inaction.”
“Mr. Wilson emotionally presented the case for Perry Christie, calling him the United States’ best friend inside CARICOM councils,” wrote a U.S. Embassy official in a 2004 cable.
The diplomat wrote that Wilson argued during a September 30, 2004 luncheon that the U.S. should support Christie’s hope to become a regional leader since the Bahamian prime minister was America’s “Tony Blair” inside CARICOM.
“Wilson again raised the prime minister’s belief that he was ignored and left exposed by the United States during events surrounding the resignation of Haitian ex-President Aristide and that he should have been consulted by senior [U.S. government] officials,” the diplomat wrote.
“Wilson claimed, however, that Christie bore no grudges at being left out of the loop by the United States and Canada.”
According to the cable, Wilson remained loyal to Christie, telling diplomats that Christie’s personality and manner made it possible for him to become friends with everyone, including President George W. Bush, thereby allowing him to exert a moderating and calming influence within CARICOM to counter the proclivities of that body’s more extreme members.
Wilson compared Christie to the late former prime minister Sir Lynden Pindling, saying Sir Lynden had quietly and effectively served as a moderating influence during the 1970s and thus served U.S. strategic interests, the cable said.
“What was true some 30 years ago, argued Wilson, was equally true today,” the embassy official said.
“The United States, continued Wilson, needed to ignore tactical deviations and remember that strategically Perry Christie was America’s best friend and supporter in the region.”
According to the cable, Wilson declared several times that the United States should support and enhance Christie’s stature within CARICOM in its own self-interest.
Wilson reportedly expressed the view that Christie believed that he had been in the forefront of the CARICOM effort to persuade the ex-Haitian president to peacefully resign his office.
“Given his leadership role in the effort, argued Wilson, the United States owed it to Christie to have received a call from senior [U.S. government] officials, or the White House, advising him ‘when the United States decided to change direction on Aristide’ and ‘remove him from power’.”
According to the cable, a U.S. Embassy official reminded Wilson that Christie had been briefed on the rapid spiral of breaking events leading up to Aristide demitting office and that CARICOM “was not an organization well-suited to handling crises.”
Noting that Prime Minister Christie was scheduled to speak at the approaching Miami Herald’s annual Americas Conference, the U.S. ambassador expressed the hope that Christie would take a positive position that reflected the deep, long-standing and overall positive relationship between the United States and the region, the cable said.
It noted that the theme of Christie’s remarks at the conference was ‘Friend or Foe? Can the Caribbean and the U.S. Repair Their Damaged Relations?’
The cable said Christie “feigned surprise” and dismay at the topic assigned to him when he had an opportunity to speak to a U.S. Embassy official before the trip.
The official expressed to Christie, according to the cable, the ambassador’s hope that he “would use his spotlight to focus on the overwhelmingly positive bilateral and mutually beneficial multilateral regional relationship and not engage in an unproductive negative analysis.”
SIR LYNDEN’S LEGACY
Referring again to Wilson, the embassy official noted that he has been closely identified with the PLP throughout his life and holds Sir Lynden “in a status close to sainthood.”
The official wrote that Wilson was a member of Christie’s “kitchen cabinet” and one of the PLP’s principal financiers and fundraisers.
“He is accustomed to serving as a transmission belt both to send, and to receive, messages intended for the prime minister,” the cable said.
The official wrote: “Wilson is very proud of his rise to meteoric wealth and, during the course of the meeting, repeatedly referred to his humble past, when, as the youngest of 11 children in a working class family, he had to sleep on the floor until his older sisters grew up and moved out of the house and a bed opened up for him.
“He is fanatically devoted to Pindling, who identified him, became his godfather, and opened the doors that allowed Wilson to be successful.”
In a 2003 cable, an embassy official described Wilson as a “bombastic speaker who frequently cuts others off in conversation.”
The official wrote that Wilson “spent much of the hour and half meeting offering a passionate defense of the record of Sir Lynden Pindling.”
“He insisted that allegations of narcotics corruption against Pindling were completely unfounded and claimed that the Commission of Inquiry bore him out on this point,” the cable said.
“He brushed aside questions about how Sir Lynden had amassed his obvious wealth during his years in office and the influence of notorious Colombian narcotics kingpin Carlos Lehder, and said that the stories about Pindling were the result of jealousy and ingratitude, a plot orchestrated by former U.S. Ambassador Carol Boyd Hallett and former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who ‘wouldn’t have been anything without Pindling’.”
Wilson told the Americans, according to the cable, “no one has cooperated more” with the U.S. on drug interdiction than Pindling and said the seizure statistics bear him out on this assertion.
The diplomat wrote: “He expressed great scorn toward Hubert Ingraham for betraying Pindling then setting out to destroy his reputation after Ingraham became prime minister, which Wilson claimed destroyed Pindling’s health and led to his death.
“Wilson said that only when Pindling neared his death did Ingraham ‘repent’ and seek reconciliation with Pindling on the latter’s death bed.
“Wilson claimed that the impressive sendoff given to Pindling by Ingraham’s government when he died in 2000 was proof that Ingraham felt remorseful about what he had done to Pindling’s reputation.”
According to the cable, Wilson believed that the seeds of the PLP’s 2002 election victory were laid at Pindling’s funeral, as the state ceremony and effusive eulogies allowed the PLP to escape from its image of corruption.
In the cable, Wilson and Bishop Neil Ellis were described as “the two individuals outside of the Bahamian government considered to have the most influence on Prime Minister Perry Christie’s government.”
Jun 09, 2011
thenassauguardian
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