By Candia Dames ~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:
If the nation is to be saved from ruin, it must return the Progressive Liberal Party to power, PLP leader Perry Christie charged at a rally in Elizabeth Estates last night.
Christie told supporters that the PLP wants to rescue the country from the "hellish nightmare" that it is now experiencing under the governance of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
Christie charged that he and the party can repair the trauma and hell he claimed the Ingraham government is causing.
In a clear reference to the prime minister's recent decision to release 103 Haitians who were detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, the PLP leader said, "We do not wake up one morning and suddenly go lurching off in some new direction that the rest of our colleagues do not know anything about. The PLP is a democracy, not a dictatorship. Our ways are not their ways and you know exactly who I am talking about.
"We do not operate like that. That is why if you are a young person with a future like Ryan Pinder (the PLP's candidate in the Elizabeth by-election) has you naturally gravitate to the PLP because you know as you should know that in the PLP you have the opportunity to be a part of a team that will allow you to be the co-author of our history. You can never have that kind of role in the other party because there is never any room for teamwork when it is a one-man show."
The prime minister announced the policy shift in the wake of a devastating earthquake that struck Haiti last week.
Christie said the suffering of the Bahamian people will only be alleviated when "good, responsible, caring and compassionate governance returns" to the country with a new PLP government.
"The PLP is marching back. The PLP is in full resurgence now, all across our country. People of our country know that...there is simply no hope with this crew that we now have in power. No hope at all."
Christie urged Elizabeth constituents to tell the government that they are not for sale.
"It is really very cruel to build up people's hopes on the basis of false promises," he said. Christie told the FNM to stop promising people what it knows it cannot deliver.
He said the PLP is setting the stage for the return of good governance to the country "and the end of this hellish nightmare that you are subjected to with this out of control, insensitive, visionless, disorganized government."
"Soon, very soon, that nightmare will be behind us and happy days are here again. Those happy days will all begin right in Elizabeth because you the people of Elizabeth will be the first ones that will send a message that will resonate throughout our archipelago that enough is enough," Christie said.
The PLP's candidate for Elizabeth Ryan Pinder, described Christie as "the most productive, competent and efficient prime minister in the region" since the late former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling.
Pinder added, "The good people of Elizabeth deserve a standing ovation for their patience, humility and focus during the difficult days they were plunged into. My friends I submit that the FNM has to pay a price for what they did to the good people of Elizabeth."
Dame Marguerite Pindling, Sir Lynden's widow, also addressed the rally charging that the Bay Street Boys are the ones running The Bahamas today even though they were voted out on January 10, 1967.
The Elizabeth seat became vacant earlier this month when attorney Malcolm Adderley resigned the seat in the House of Assembly. He also resigned from the PLP, citing disaffection with the party's leadership.
January 20, 2010
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.