NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) Michael Pintard took to social media Tuesday evening to respond to Prime Minister Philip Davis who castigated him on the app ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter, for suggesting that government’s trip to Botswana was a ‘waste of money.’
While the Prime Minister tweeted a five-paragraph response to Pintard’s claims at 7:06 p.m.; the FNM’s public relations arm noted 40 minutes later that the party intended on issuing a ‘late statement,’ but did not indicate what it was in reference to. By 8:26 p.m. Pintard logged into his ‘X’, account to ask Prime Minister Davis if he tweeted his response from ‘first class;’ a reference to the private jet which government allegedly rented for the trip to Botswana. That tweet was then followed by a Facebook post where Pintard suggested that Davis’ response was a “childish note,” with an “emotional rant.”
The post said, “the Prime Minister claims to be doing the people’s business but has found enough time to issue an emotional rant. Clearly, he is hurt that I have chosen not to join his lavish excursion with far more people than are necessary.”
“The childish note fails to focus on the struggles of our people at home in the Bahamas, still grappling with the scourge of violent crimes and the scarcity of funds for healthy meals, badly needed health care, or rental assistance.”
Pintard continued, “This massive entourage dismisses those of us who want to conserve limited resources and work on vexing issues that threaten to erode our economy and the very social fabric of our country.”
The FNM leader wrapped up his social media post stating, “I would have said travel smartly, but given the expensive private jet, clearly you are not taking good advice.”
Aviation sources have suggested that the private jet is reportedly costing the government “$11,000 per hour.”
Prime Minister Davis blasted Pintard’s refusal of the invitation to Botswana by tweeting, “It’s too bad he said no, just so he could perform at a press conference instead – he missed an opportunity to learn something from a country with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.”
“The opposition doesn’t understand how the world works in 2024, the Bahamian people do.”
He continued, “The world is changing quickly, and the FNM is simply out of their depth –they got duped in the disastrous Oban deal, they brought in no new investments, they had one of the worst COVID performances in the region, and my predecessor sat in a hallway, disrespected and forgotten – perhaps because his idea of foreign policy was saying The Bahamas was corrupt, instead of promoting our many strengths and the ingenuity of our people.”
“I am never going to stop promoting our country or building the bridges and relationships that bring our people new opportunities. I will continue to strengthen our partnerships and build alliances on issues that matter to us – whether it’s a blockade to protect our borders, fighting against weapons trafficking, standing up for us on climate change, or getting us off the blacklist.”
There has been radio silence on social media from both sides of the political divide as of 8:27 p.m Tuesday March 19, 2024.
