PM Slams Christie:
By Quincy Parker -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on Wednesday blasted Opposition Leader Perry Christie and the PLP over their conduct leading up to and following the election, charging them with orchestrating a campaign of resentment against the FNM with public resources.

Mr. Ingraham again slammed Mr. Christie for taking so long to concede the election "at a late hour" and, following that concession, for continuing to give support for 24 hours to "ominous claims" by certain PLPs that the it had, in fact, won the government.

"What is more disappointing, he remained silent even when those erroneous claims were repeated on ZNS radio by clearly political operatives employed as radio talk show hosts and reported as rumours on ZNS national news broadcast," he said.

Mr. Ingraham also chastised Mr. Christie for waiting until so late in the day last Thursday to speak to PLP supporters about the election results.

"He did speak at 10:30 (Thursday) night," the prime minister acknowledged. "What he said then could have been said much earlier, and should have been said much earlier."

Issuing a press statement on his first full day in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Ingraham also sought to lay out the facts surrounding his widely debated remarks concerning talk show hosts Steve McKinney and Phillipa Russell, whom he dubbed "political personalities."

Mr. Ingraham flatly denied that the two talk show hosts had been fired, insisting that ZNS talk shows have only been suspended "up to now."

"I believe that the Bahamian people would want to be aware of the circumstances surrounding the employment of the two political personalities referred to by me at my party’s May 5 victory rally," Mr. Ingraham said.

"And I believe the Bahamian tax payers would have an interest in knowing and have a right to know," he added, "how the Progressive Liberal Party engaged the full machinery of the government and the resources of the Public Treasury specifically to orchestrate a campaign of distrust and resentment against me and my party."

Mr. Ingraham said it was "interesting" that Steve McKinney has three current contracts with the Government of The Bahamas.

The first is a three-year, $45,000 a year public relations contract signed with the Ministry of Education in November 2005; the second is another $45,000 a year public relations contract signed with the Ministry of Tourism last April, which includes speechwriting duties and an additional 15 percent gratuity at the conclusion of the contract.

The third was signed in July 2006 with the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas for Mr. McKinney to serve as host of the "Immediate Response" talk show, for which he was paid $200 per show.

As for Ms. Russell, Mr. Ingraham tabled a contract that shows she was hired by BCB to host "Drive Time Talk" at a rate of $100 per show, or $26,000 per year.

"Both contracts concluded between the two political operatives and the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas contained provisions for termination should the conduct of the individuals ‘reflect unfavorably on the reputation of the Corporation or discredit in any way its image,’" Mr. Ingraham said.

"While radio hosts are always entitled to their personal, political or other opinions, when engaged at the expense of the public purse, they must demonstrate a clear commitment to ensuring that all points of view are heard and respected on air," the prime minister said. "The inability of these persons to provide unbiased commentary is self-evident."

"Mr. Christie can kick and scream as much as he likes about victimization," Mr. Ingraham continued. "We will victimize no one. At the same time we will not allow ZNS, which is maintained by taxpayers’ money, to be abused as a vulgar propaganda tool for one political party."

He reiterated that each contract – each one signed by all parties – contains provisions as to how it may be terminated, but that no one has been terminated.

"Mr. McKinney still has $90,000 worth of contracts that are operational, up to now," he said.

Mr. Ingraham also repeated his assertion that the FNM government will review all contracts he said were "hurriedly concluded by the PLP government in the days and weeks leading up to the election." He said this was to safeguard the interests of the Bahamian people.

He said he stated "as a matter of fact" that Mr. Christie and his government had presided over an election that saw the most egregious political interference since Bahamian independence in 1973.

Asked whether he had evidence, Mr. Ingraham insisted that he makes no statements unless he has evidence to support them.

"I don’t do that. I’ve been in public life for more than 30 years. I have a good track record in terms of credibility," he said. "I stand by the statement I made, which has not been refuted so far by Mr. Christie either."

He said he assumed that people define victimization as when someone is dismissed because they have a different political persuasion than the person supposedly victimizing them. That is not what is happening, he asserted, in the case of Mr. McKinney or Ms. Russell.

"The PLP will use this term regularly as a cover," Mr. Ingraham said. "You have no idea how many people they hired on the public payroll just before the election, and left no monies in place to pay them. People are still showing up to government offices for jobs that they had been given by PLP ministers before they got kicked out of office last Wednesday."

He gave the example of the National Insurance Board, which he said downsized itself years ago to get its employment numbers down to a manageable level. The board has been required to hire 90 people so far this year.

"And so when decisions have to be taken about these things, they want to set up the defense or offence of victimization," he said. "They issued contracts for any number of government agencies that are not fundable by the government at the moment."

"We can’t fund them, we can’t manage them, and we can’t do them all one time. It’s not possible. All political trickery. And so when we do something about those things, oh they are victimizing, will be the retort."

10 May 2007