In what many would say is laughable, if it weren’t so serious, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has warned politicians to disassociate themselves from criminals as the next general election approaches.
Seeing as most Bahamian politicians are criminals, it appears that Mr Ingraham is suggesting they stay away from each other.
“I know in elections, everybody wants to win, but we ought to consciously and deliberately disassociate ourselves from persons we know who are criminals. I speak in my capacity as Prime Minister, with the knowledge I have from intelligence gathered in the Bahamas,” Mr Ingraham said during his contribution on the 2011/2012 budget debate in the House of Assembly.
“The stark reality is that we did not reach the current level of crime overnight,” Ingraham noted.
That is certainly true! BahamasB2B.com has been warning about corruption in Bahamian politics, both in the PLP and the FNM, for over ten years.
“And our attitude towards crime makes a difference. Complaining about crime yet aiding and abetting criminal behaviour hurts our shared fight against crime,” Mr Ingraham added.
“The less tolerant and accommodating we are of criminal enterprise and behaviour, the more effective will be our fight against crime. The entire society has an obligation to assist the police in doing their jobs.”
Yet, when members of society point out corruption in government and the judicary, they are threatened with lawsuits or arrest, intimidated, denied government contracts and sometimes physically assaulted.
Mr Ingraham needs to put his money where his mouth is, by arresting corrupt politcians and judges, enacting campaign finance reform and passing freedom of information legislation.
Until then, he is just spitting in the wind.
