Ever since the May 7 general election, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade has been sounding more and more like a rank-and-file PLP parliamentarian and Cabinet minister.
At times when he addresses the press I am left to wonder if he is speaking as a bipartisan police commissioner or as a strong supporter of the PLP. He and the PLP government were recently criticized for the promotion of one Stephen Seymour to the rank of assistant commissioner of police.
Former National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest has said that Seymour’s prior working relationship with Prime Minister Perry Christie could undermine Greenslade’s authority. In other words, instead of reporting to his superior within the police force, who happens to be Greenslade, Seymour will go directly to the PM because of his political clout. He was already receiving full pension. And he will now receive a decent salary as assistant commissioner. If this is the case it would be double dipping. And this would be at a time when the budget deficit for this fiscal period is $550 million.
Equally troubling is the fact that thousands of unemployed young people are pining away at home with no job prospects. While the PLP government is crying poor mouth with respect to the job readiness program that was implemented to help jobless Bahamians who were struggling to find work in the private sector, the governing party can find boatloads of money to hire its loyal supporters, who have already passed the retirement age. Many of these senior citizens are earning enviable pensions. The Christie administration is allowing its boys to get a second bite of the apple. That is why other senior officers in the police force and the FNM have expressed alarm that Seymour was taken out of retirement and given such a high post within the police force.
There is no such thing as fiscal sanity within the PLP government. Greenslade and the PLP have hit back at those who would dare to question this controversial move. No doubt the PLP had the FNM in its crosshairs when it responded to that party’s criticism over the Seymour matter. The PLP, as well as Greenslade, defended the decision to promote Seymour to assistant commissioner. Greenslade said any criticism of Seymour’s promotion is offensive. In this case I believe Greenslade was referring to some senior police officers. Did he also have the FNM in mind? I don’t know. But I do know that Greenslade was criticized by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in July for his alleged doublespeak on the urban renewal program.
Ingraham accused the police commissioner for flip-flopping on the effectiveness of the program after the FNM was booted out of office in May. While Greenslade has been praising the effectiveness of the program since May 7, Ingraham accused him of saying something else in 2007 after the first Christie government lost the election. As with the Seymour matter, the PLP launched a scathing attack on the former PM for publicly criticizing Greenslade. The PLP defends Greenslade as if he is one of its own. All of a sudden it appears as if Greenslade has been pitted against the FNM party.
Since May 7 he has been sounding more and more like a PLP. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that the police commissioner is positioning himself to receive a nomination for the PLP in 2017. If my suspicions are correct, I wish him all the best. He has been a good police officer. He should be equally good as a PLP parliamentarian.
The Whistleblower
