Cassius Stuart likened Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe and former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - when he met with a U.S. Embassy official in Nassau - according to diplomatic cables

Stuart compared PM to dictator

By CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com



Cables reveal former BDM leader's statements to Americans


When Cassius Stuart met with a U.S. Embassy official before the Elizabeth by-election last year, he claimed he had been approached by Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader Perry Christie “who said he was looking for someone to mold to eventually take over the leadership of the PLP.” Stuart also likened Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, according to one of the diplomatic cables The Nassau Guardian obtained through the whistle-blowing non-profit organization WikiLeaks.

Now a member of the Free National Movement (FNM), Stuart was leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) at the time.

The cable said Stuart also likened Ingraham to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and said the PM was “letting the country go to hell and allowing it to be bought by China”.

But a lot has changed since the by-election and Stuart’s meetings with the American diplomats.

He joined the FNM in April this year, acknowledging at the time that the move was a good one for the members of the BDM because the FNM’s ideals matched theirs.

“My message over the past decade has been adding value to the lives of every Bahamian,” Stuart said at a press conference to announce the BDM members’ decision to join the FNM.

“Moving forward, the prime minister has assured us that the next years will be just that, building lives.”

According to the cable, Stuart had been highly critical of FNM policies, which he said caused the country to be in such a position that it could “easily become another Haiti”.

He told the embassy official that the United States had a stake in not allowing this to happen because “you don’t want boat loads of Bahamians to begin arriving on your shores.”

He also raised what he characterized as “significant concerns” about the Government of The Bahamas being courted by the People’s Republic of China.

According to the cable, Stuart told the American diplomat the country’s education system was “randomly drifting…We’re stuck on a treadmill and we’re moving backwards.”

Regarding the purported offer by Christie, Stuart said he told the PLP leader he could not align himself with either of the major parties because of the endemic corruption in both, according to the cable.

Stuart said the only defining line in the February 2010 Elizabeth by-election between the BDM and the other two major political parties was resources, the cable said.

He said if he could raise $250,000 he would win the election, noting that he needed to get free T-shirts out into the community.

The Nassau Guardian contacted Stuart yesterday about the information contained in the diplomatic documents. He seemed surprised when told what was attributed to him, but did not deny the comments.

Asked whether it is still his view that corruption is endemic in the FNM, he explained that he had not referred specifically to the party, but was suggesting that because corruption is widespread in certain agencies of the country, as the government the FNM needed to take the blame.

Stuart was also asked about his comment, which suggested that Christie wanted to groom him to take over the leadership of the PLP.

“I think they (the Americans) took it a little out of context. He (Christie) said he wanted to court someone to take over the party,” the former BDM leader explained.

“It wasn’t necessarily me.”

Regarding his reported Mugabe comment, Stuart said, “I can’t definitively remember the conversation, but I do remember we were talking about leaders who served a long time and at that time Mugabe was headline news as a leader of his country for a long time and in that context we were talking.”

Asked about his overall impressions of what the Americans recorded from their conversations with him, Stuart said, “It’s interesting. I think they have a responsibility to communicate their findings within a society to their government. This whole leaking of secret cable information, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

“It’s interesting that everything that comes out of your mouth is recorded. You have to be very careful what you say. We had casual conversations on many occasions…I didn’t realize that this information was being highly documented for the president of the United States.”

ELIZABETH BY-ELECTION

The Elizabeth by-election cable noted that the election could very well be a bellwether for the next general election.

The cable also details the resignation of Malcolm Adderley (former Elizabeth MP) from the PLP and the House of Assembly.

It noted that Christie accused the FNM government of undermining democracy by offering Adderley a Supreme Court position, which he thinks necessitated Adderley’s resignation.

But there was never any evidence of this.

The cable pointed out that PLP chairman Bradley Roberts remarked that both Adderley and former PLP Kenyatta Gibson (MP for Kennedy) were trying to destabilize the party.

Stuart ended up receiving fewer than 100 votes in the election, which was won by the PLP’s Ryan Pinder.

The cable points out that Pinder at the time had “strong ties to the U.S.”.

“Pinder was a dual Bahamian-U.S. citizen but renounced his citizenship on January 19 (2010) after bowing to pressure from his own party,” the cable said.

At the time, the U.S. embassy official wrote: “Pinder is noticeably one of the few white members of his party and the role that his race will play in garnering grassroots PLP support for him as a candidate remains to be seen.”

The embassy official also wrote that despite the fact that Pinder is a white member of an overwhelmingly black party, one contact said the constituency is so heavily rooted in the PLP the party “could nominate a puppy and it would be elected”.

In the cable, the diplomat reports in detail about what speakers at a PLP rally had to say on January 19, 2010.

The cable noted that the focus of many of the speakers was Ingraham’s decision to grant temporary protective status to illegal Haitian detainees in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.

“While not directly criticizing the decision, the PLP said they were not consulted and argued that the move was designed to ‘cause strife and separation’,” noted the cable.

In referring to the FNM’s candidate, Dr. Duane Sands, the diplomat noted that he is a cousin of National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest and a prominent heart surgeon.

The diplomat wrote, “Sands has been difficult for the PLP to criticize because he is well-respected in the community. Therefore, the focus has been on aligning him with the policies of PM Ingraham.”

The American diplomat wrote that while media reports were generally predicting a PLP victory, many articles indicated that Elizabeth residents were open to a third party candidate and were “sick of both parties”.

“Some of the third party candidates have called for campaign finance reform in the run up to the election, an acknowledgement of the view that whoever spends the most will win,” noted the cable.

The diplomat also wrote: “The opposition party PLP is likely to win what promises to be a close election, which would boost their chances in the national elections.

“Despite favorable media attention for third party candidates, this race is strictly a PLP and FNM affair. A poor economy and increasing crime play favorably for the PLP.

“However, bolstering the position of the FNM was the poor performance and lack of resources that the previous PLP candidate (Malcolm Adderley) was able to bring to the constituency.

“Although no one has publicly questioned Pinder’s race, privately, contacts admit it could be a significant factor. The key will be the amount of resources each party is able to spend on the election.”

Several weeks after the election, the Election Court declared Pinder the winner of the race after allowing his challenged votes.

5/25/2011

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International