Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin tells opposition to “take responsibility”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition Leader Michael Pintard said yesterday that while the government has set itself on the right road, announcing some good-sounding themes, its pace in achieving substantive change has been slow as it spends more time on “optics, rather than substance”.
He accused the Davis administration of being “masters of deflection”, noting that the government has sought to capitalize on certain narratives that it alone cares for the disenfranchised, and has a conscience in government.
According to Pintard, while the government has accused the opposition of having no credibility to criticize, there are governing MPs who sat in opposition prior to the last general election and were also a part of the last Christie administration, but they were silent when “things went wrong and there were scandals or there were issues in that administration”.
He said: “You didn’t hear Bo Peep from any of them.
“What did they say?
“We have collective responsibility, but now they come in this House and try to convince that public that all of a sudden, we have a conscience.
“We have always had a conscience. The question is why didn’t you speak then?”
Pintard said accusations of misdeeds or missteps in some department or agencies under the former administration does not rob the opposition of its ability to address issues and “speak truth to power”.
“Let me say to Englerston; let me say to Exuma, let me say to Cat Island Island, many a time you all complimented a number of us for speaking truth to power.
“How in the world you did it, then, and now you come and switch up the game in here as if we weren’t standing up; as if we weren’t collaborative. I was in two ministries.
“Go and look at those ministries and tell me if you find two or more persons who we sent home because we thought they were PLP.
“Go and look, two ministries. Don’t get distracted.
“The point is you are the masters of deflection.”
The statement stirred a reaction from Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin.
On a point of order, Hanna-Martin said when a member is a part of the Cabinet there is collective responsibility and Pintard ought to stop making excuses.
“You take responsibility and you keep moving,” she said.
“You don’t come in here and say, well, you know, I did this and I couldn’t do that and I wasn’t there and it wasn’t me. You take responsibility.
“Take your blows. And sometimes the Bahamian people speak and they send you home, that’s how it works.
“So, the member coming here now with this convoluted description of things, you take responsibility. That’s the role.”
Pinder commended Hanna-Martin for demonstrating a commitment to The Bahamas over the years, but said while she always asks for balance, she fails to demonstrate it in her communications.
He said he had never seen Hanna-Martin concede that the PLP has done something wrong.
Hanna-Martin said she did not know what the opposition leader was speaking about and maintained that Pinder, who sat as a Cabinet minister in the former administration, must stop attempting to put distance between himself and the table he sat around as he is “concurrent with it”.
Pintard also accused the government of being “big on PR”, pointing out that it has hired a number of journalists in key government agencies and ministries.
He said the problem is the Bahamian people don’t need public relations, but a government “focused on HR”.
Opposition members banged on the desk in support.
Pintard added that the pace at which the government is moving toward change is too slow, underscoring Dorian victims still have leaking roofs; and some residents on storm-affected islands were still waiting on the first check for assistance.
He said: “Help delayed is often help denied.”
He said he believes the Bahamian people will “trust us” as the Free National Movement will govern for all Bahamians.
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