Minister of Health Senator Dr. Bernard Nottage confirmed yesterday that he would offer as a candidate in the upcoming general election but said he had not yet been invited to run for a specific constituency by the Progressive Liberal Party.
The former CEO of the Coalition for Democratic Reform re-joined the PLP last November during the partyﾒs convention, and earlier this year was appointed to Prime Minister Perry Christieﾒs Cabinet as Minister of Health and National Insurance.
Dr. Nottage, a former MP for the Kennedy constituency, said that while he has heard the talk that he may run in Holy Cross – now held by Sidney Stubbs – and that a new seat in the south may be created, he could only wait on the partyﾒs decision.
“I am interested in serving the Bahamian people. The constituency, the location is not so important as the opportunity to serve whomever,” he told Wendall Jones on Jones and Company yesterday. “I have not yet been invited to run for a specific constituency by the party. Iﾒve had approaches by quite a number of constituencies who indicated that they would wish me to be the candidate and I guess Iﾒll have to see, but at the moment there has been no decision about that.”
Dr. Nottage said that he would be working with Kennedy incumbent Kenyatta Gibson to help him win re-election. He said the Holy Cross seat would only become an option if the sitting MP decided not offer himself again, which at this point does not appear to be the case.
“People have been very generous to me and many people have said such things to me, and I can only wait on the partyﾒs decision. If I donﾒt know thereﾒs going to be a new seat [in the south] thereﾒs no point in spending any time thinking about that, but all I know is that I am going to offer myself as a candidate and if elected I will serve diligently.”
The Boundaries Commission has not yet been appointed for the next general election; however, the major political parties are in the process of choosing their candidates.
Asked about his personal ambitions to become prime minister of The Bahamas, Dr. Nottage said, “there can only be one prime minister at a time.”
“Perry Christie is the prime minister and he has my full support, and until something happens to him thereﾒs no point in me wasting my energies thinking about that,” said Dr. Nottage, who once challenged Mr. Christie for the partyﾒs leadership before breaking ties with the PLP and forming the CDR.
“All of us have to know how to be able to follow and how to be able to support and how to be able to function wherever it is that we are. I am very happy doing what I am doing now. Iﾒm very happy with Mr. Christieﾒs leadership. Iﾒve seen him in action and I am very impressed with his thoroughness, deliberation, fairness and his ability to look at all facets of a situation. While I hear the criticism that people make I think [Prime Minister Christieﾒs] judgement is very sound, so he has my support and I donﾒt think I need to take it beyond that.”
Regarding their different styles of leadership, Dr. Nottage said those differences will bode well for the PLP and he and Mr. Christie.
“I think we have mutual respect for each other. He has given me every indication that he appreciates those strengths that I bring to the table and feel they are complementary to his and the rest of his ministers,” said Dr. Nottage. “Itﾒs really a win, win situation for me.”
He predicted that heading into the election, which must be called by May 2007, the four big issues would include illegal immigration, crime, education and health.
“I think thereﾒs no doubt that crime needs a lot of attention, a lot of work. I donﾒt know that any government has the capacity to ﾑsolveﾒ crime but we have to continue to work toward reducing not only crime but the fear of crime,” said Dr. Nottage.
“I think Bahamians have had it with illegal immigration and want something done. I think thereﾒs some duplicity about it and we have to have firm, consistent, sustainable activity aimed at reducing illegal immigration and try to put in place a programme that enables us to utilise immigrant labour in an orderly fashion that we understand and that people can easily accept.”
He said the government also has to deal with the many Haitians who have been here a long time and those children of Haitian nationals who qualify for citizenship, noting that the government is “working towards that end.”
By: Erica Wells, The Bahama Journal
