CHAIRMAN of the Progressive Liberal Party Bradley Roberts has called on residents to take to the streets and demonstrate against the Minnis administration.

Repeating the PLP’s refrain of “witch hunts” being conducted against members of the PLP, Mr Roberts said life has got worse for Bahamians since the Free National Movement (FNM) assumed office.

“It is ironic that after running on a political platform of change and prosperity and telling the Bahamian people that the PLP government has destroyed the country, the FNM government has to date produced nothing positive for the Bahamian people,” Mr Roberts noted in a speech delivered at a PLP National General Council meeting on Thursday.

“...(The government’s) politically driven witch hunt and persecution under the guise of cleaning up corruption has deeply divided our country. Its mass termination exercise again based on pure politics has worsened the unemployment rate and increased hardship on many Bahamian families.”

He also claimed: “Electricity costs have increased under this government and there continues to be no plan for energy sector reform and a reduction in the cost of electricity.

“Funding for healthcare has been massively cut while the FNM took care of themselves as a priority and gave unsolicited tax breaks to the wealthy friends, associates and political donors.”

He also said murders have increased—compared to this period last year— while “the prime minister deceives the Bahamian people about a sense of calm in the country”.

“Life has gotten measurably worse for many Bahamians under the watch of the FNM,” Mr Roberts said.

“To date the only bright spots in this country are the results of the hard work and heavy lifting of the PLP government,” he claimed. “The pending sale of the three-hotel complex in Freeport to the Canadian Steve Wynn investment group; the Commonwealth Youth Games; and good paying jobs and apprenticeship programme at the Grand Bahama Shipyard are just three of the positive and bright spots in what to date has been cases of political victimisation, gloom, doom, a number of poor decisions, walk backs and climb downs from a visionless and rudderless government.

“The FNM government must get to work post haste on behalf of the Bahamian people because they deserve better.

“I am a strong supporter of law and order but strongly feel that if the witch hunt is not discontinued that we the supporters of our great party must rise up and register our disgust with this corrupt and abuse of state power for purely political gain.

“We must take to the streets, march and demonstrate. We must engage in a letter writing campaign not only to the local newspaper editors, but to the UN High Commission on Human Rights. Political activism is the most potent form of opposition to bring about change and put a stop to evil.

“...We must rise up and challenge this misguided ignoble FNM government,” Mr Roberts said.