In his keynote address Friday at the PLP’s 48th Annual Convention, Mr. Christie accused senior public servants supporting the FNM of victimising PLP-supporting employees.
On Sunday, Opposition Free National Movement leader Senator Tommy Turnquest, joined by FNM Chairman for New Providence, Carl Bethel, and Zhivargo Laing, Grand Bahama, on Island FM’s Parliament Street, hosted by Jessica Robertson and Fayne Thompson, refuted Mr. Christie’s claims.
Mr. Christie railed against the “hard-handed arrogance and spiteful behaviour” of “Some officials who were put in positions of authority by the FNM government (and) are still in place.”
“Sadly, some of these very same officials have tried to take advantage of our pledge not to victimise them by turning around and victimizing the hell out of PLPs!” he charged.
“If you want to be FNM, that’s fine with me,” Mr. Christie said, but, “if you abuse your office, if you abuse your power, to deliberately and wickedly persecute or discriminate or victimise PLPs simply because you want to hurt or discredit or sabotage the PLP, then you must be made to understand that there are legal means, by which you can be made, and will be made, to pay dearly for your transgressions.”
Asked by Ms Robertson if the Prime Minister’s claims were accurate, Senator Turnquest responded that he was “flabbergasted” by the “direct threat” made by the nation’s “chief executive officer” to civil servants.
“If he wants to find out where real victimisation exists, I suggest he looks at BAIC (the Bahamas Agriculture and Industrial Corporation) and the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. Start with those two and deal with the victimisation at those two corporations…” he advised, before Ms Robertson interrupted to ask who, specifically, were the victimisers.
Mr. Turnquest: “Just go and clean-up the victimization there and fire those persons that are victimising people, and then we can talk.”
The show’s co-host, Fayne Thompson, then asked whether similar accusations were made by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham during the FNM’s tenure.
Senator Turnquest responded: “What Mr. Ingraham has said in the past was that he understands that some FNMs don’t feel like they were getting a fair shake οΎ— that’s totally different. He told his supporters, ‘We understand what you’re going through.'”
However, Mr Turnquest went on, “Mr. Christie took a different approach: ‘I got my sledge hammer and I’m gonna smash ya’ll victimising FNMs over the head with this.’ That’s totally different.”
Mr. Christie should not have “threatened” civil servants in his speech, he stated.
Observing that Mr, Christie is not the Prime Minister for a specific party, but for all Bahamian citizens, Mr. Laing said such statements by Mr Christie could have “dangerous” consequences.
“I want to know how our Prime Minister Perry Christie knows who is a FNM civil servant,” Mr Laing questioned. “So, you may have someone at a public corporation who is one of your supporters. When the public hear you say PLPs are being victimised by FNMs assume this one, because they may have come to work with an attitude that day is an FNM, and then they mistreating one of your own supporters. I think it was very dangerous what the Prime minister did.”
One caller to the show said that when it came to victimization, neither the PLP nor FNM were innocent.
The caller charged: “Ya’ll don’t play no party politics for the radio listeners. The FNM is no different from the PLP. Victimisation is in all of these governments.”
Senator Turnquest then called for a “fundamental change” in the way the country was governed, as the potential for victimisation would remain until Bahamians truly believed that the government was serious about public sector reform.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
