The race is over and the dirt has settled. Some are happy, others are sad. But the Bahamian people have spoken. They sent a clear message, “We are in charge.” History has been made.
Wayne Munroe told the people to “kiss his backside.” The people answered but with a slight variation, they kicked his backside. Well done, the people spoke.
Perry Christie gave the people the finger. They gave him the bird. The people spoke.
Perry Christie said that only God could stop him. God showed him who is boss. The people spoke. They said, “dont play with God.”
I personally felt that the FNM would win. Before the gang of seven tried to upset the FNM I was sure it would win, but after they played their silly little game, I was no longer sure.
But again, the people spoke; they had had enough. As to be expected, all Mr. Christie’s so called friends said it was “Perry’s fault.” And maybe they were right. After all, the buck stops on the Prime Minister’s desk. And Mr. Christie was the Prime Minister.
I was in Parliament with Mr. Christie. And in all my 25 years there I found him to be decent, caring, concerned and fair. He seemed to be one of those who thought that if there were ten problems that, if left alone long enough, eight would take care of themselves.
This is apparently how he led. But what he didn’t realize was that he had surrounded himself with a group of people many of whom were in the game to enrich themselves, and to hell with the country.
Some appear to have stolen like cats. It is said that one representative was so greedy that if a mosquito flew into his constituency he would demand some of the mosquito’s blood. In the end, all paid for it. Some good representatives went down; it was a clean sweep.
It was obvious that some entered Parliament as paupers and in a few short years became millionaires. They were either thieves or they were geniuses. If they were geniuses it is unfortunate that they did not use this genius to build a strong economy so that some women did not have to sell their bodies in order to pay their bills.
Mr. Christie should have seen this happening all around him. I understand he was told but he didn’t listen. It did not take care of itself. And the people spoke.
In the end the PLP seemed to panic. They pulled out the colour card, which had been used successfully in the past. But they were so out of touch that they didn’t know that the Bahamian people had graduated and were no longer impressed with colour. After all, all men and women are created equal under God. If one is not happy with his or her colour let them take that up with God. The people spoke and that is what they told them.
The PLP lied when they said that they had saved the coloured man. The person who shouted this loudest had been a general for Sir Stafford Sands. Back then he ran a polling division for Sir Stafford in the City when the Bay Street Boys were trying to destroy The Tribune because of the stand that the Tribune’s editor, Sir Etienne Dupuch, took in the House of Assembly against racial discrimination on that fateful night of January 23, 1956. Even Arthur Foulkes finally admitted, “The PLP was the beneficiary of Sir Etienne Dupuch’s efforts to end discrimination in The Bahamas.” But the people knew this and the people spoke.
The PLP’s panic was almost embarrassing. In some cases they seemed to skate very close to the edge of the Bribery and Corruption Act. At the last minute they promised hundreds of police promotions; they promised free this and free that. The people laughed and then spoke, “Dont play with us they said; we’re not stupid.”
Few people realize the importance of what happened in the May 10, 2017 General Election. The people voted for the Country, not the Party. It used to be said that if you ran a dead dog in some areas and put a PLP tag on it, the people would vote for it. No more, thank God. Let both the FNM and the PLP take note. It’s no longer the Party; it’s the Country.
Dr. Hubert Minnis is a good man. He has surrounded himself with good people, but some are snakes. He will be all right if he sleeps with one eye open. Dr. Minnis has made some heavy statements about corruption. If he does not back his statements up with action he will be a one-time Prime Minister.
The people have had enough. They have spoken.
By Pierre V. L. Dupuch
QUESTION: Why is it that when the man in the street is suspected of stealing, he is investigated but when a politician is suspected of committing the same crime, the investigation is called a Witch Hunt?
