One year ago, the Progressive Liberal Party was spending its last week in opposition, with its leaders and candidates trekking across the islands of The Bahamas to bring what they called a message of hope and help to Bahamians.
The party is this week celebrating the first anniversary of a resounding victory at the polls, having won 29 of the 40 seats in parliament.
National Chairman Raynard Rigby said at a press conference yesterday at PLP headquarters that over the past year, the PLP has been working hard to retool the economy and the country’s education system.
Mr. Rigby said the government is presently engaged in comprehensive social development and prison reform programmes and in the financial services sector, the PLP government has repositioned the industry out of the line of fire in which it was left by the previous administration.
He said the prime minister is committed to renewing the faith of Bahamians in government and setting in place an infrastructure to allow for the broadest possible engagement of the Bahamian populace.
Mr. Rigby said the commissions that have been appointed in the areas of constitutional reform, culture, urban renewal, labour, trade, the financial services and health insurance are due to report upon the completion of their broad consultation with the Bahamian people.
It is the view of the PLP that the establishment of each of these commissions is a beautiful evolution of the country’s democracy whereby the government has demonstrated its commitment to sharing power with the people, he said.”We in the PLP endorse this bold and progressive approach to governance and we publicly pledge our support to work with all of the commissions to ensure that their objectives are met with resounding success,” Mr. Rigby said. “Thus far, a testament of this success is the report of the Prison Reform Commission and I am confident that with all of the other reports to come, the Bahamian people will be forever proud of the tremendous work and national service undertaken by the commissions.”
He recognized that The Bahamas faces some challenging times ahead. “I know that for some people things may appear difficult in the short term,” Mr. Rigby said. “But let me say that every Bahamian has good reason to be full of pride.”
He said, “Our objective in government is simply to restore the deep sentiment of national pride in our people. This is manifested in our new approach to governance. And I can confirm that this PLP government is deeply committed to the advancement of initiatives in all of these areas and beyond.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie will mark his first anniversary as the country’s leader with a national address on Thursday night.
The party will swing into celebratory mode on Friday with a cultural extravaganza on Clifford Park at 7pm. It was the very spot where the party celebrated its victory the night of the general election.
On Saturday, the PLP will hold a victory fun day at the Sir Lynden Pindling Centre starting at 7am. On Sunday, party members will observe the anniversary with a special church service.
Mr. Rigby said, “The PLP remains humbled by the outward expression of support and we commit ourselves to fulfilling the longstanding hopes of every Bahamian.”
By Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
