During a rally in Exuma rally on Friday night, which was broadcast live on radio Love 97, Mr. Ingraham said there are allegations of kickbacks from various contracts and he accused the Christie Administration of being “corrupt and crooked”.
“They are riddled with corruption and self interest,” the former prime minister declared.
“The PLP is proven to be as corruption-riddled as the last PLP government, the government from which [Perry] Christie and I were kicked out because we complained about corruption-they are just as bad now as the PLP was and the one thing, you know, they are not as effective as the last PLP government; they’re just as crooked, but [they’re not] as effective as the last PLP government.”
But Mr. Rigby believes that such statements only show that Mr. Ingraham has nothing of substance to say to the Bahamian people.
“One would expect that the FNM would be mature and be responsible in their public utterances,” he said during an interview with The Bahama Journal.
“I believe, clearly, that Mr. Ingraham and the FNM are the last ones who should be speaking about corruption. There are still unanswered questions about incidents that would have occurred under his [administration], with Brent Symonette, Dion Foulkes and Tommy Turnquest.”
Mr. Rigby said Mr. Ingraham has yet to outline his vision for The Bahamas.
“One would expect that going forward the debate in our country would be about which party is best able to take the country to higher heights in terms of their policies and in terms of their vision and Mr. Ingraham has not yet since his return as leader of the Official Opposition articulated a vision for The Bahamas,” he said.
“He is caught up on reminding the Bahamian people about what his government did when he was prime minister.”
Mr. Rigby said the Bahamian people swept the FNM out of office based on Mr. Ingraham’s record.
“The facts remain that as he goes across the country seeking to take credit for what this PLP has been doing over the past three and a half years, he’s being irresponsible in his commentary,” the PLP chairman said.
On Friday night, Mr. Ingraham was stinging in his criticism of the Christie Administration.
He said, “The prime minister has proven in office what many of us who know him have long maintained – and believe you me, I know him, he knows me too – that he is powerless to remove inefficient or corrupt members of his inner-circle.
“This is so even though the allegations, the evidence against them continues to mount. Each minister in this government seems to have his or her own agenda. They disregard the rules and regulations of Cabinet procedure; they ignore the rules and regulations governing the public service and meanwhile, the prime minister seems incapable of reigning in these loose canons.
“I am truly sorry for Mr. Christie. This is one of a number of reasons why I propose to relieve my friend, Perry Christie, of his duties as prime minister of The Bahamas.”
Mr. Ingraham added, “[Mr. Christie] knows in his heart of hearts that there is no one in The Bahamas who he prefers to relieve him than Hubert Alexander Ingraham. He knows and you know that I’ll get the job done. I did it before and I’ll do it again.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
