PM ‘should resign’ after ‘foul’ gesture

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

WITH much of the nation in shock after Prime Minister Perry Christie flashed an obscene hand gesture on Monday night, Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday said it was past time for the nation’s leader to “get the hell out” and resign.

Dr Minnis also demanded an apology from Mr Christie after he extended his middle finger - an action known colloquially as ‘flipping the bird’ - during a Progressive Liberal Party community meeting Monday night in Fox Hill.

Dr Minnis also said the Prime Minister’s behaviour was “foul and has no place in the public domain”, adding that Mr Christie had become “unhinged”.

“I, along with all right-thinking Bahamians, was shocked and horrified by the public embarrassment displayed by our Prime Minister,” Dr Minnis said at FNM headquarters.

“This behaviour, to my knowledge, is the first and hopefully the last time a sitting Prime Minister of our God-fearing nation, (will) publicly curse at Bahamians by using such profane gestures.

“And our Prime Minister must know that regardless to where he is, he represents the Bahamas and should behave accordingly,” Dr Minnis said.

In the process of discrediting many of his detractors on Monday night, Mr Christie claimed that as an election nears, his adversaries would do whatever it takes to destroy him in their “hunger for power”.

Addressing one specific instance of these “lies and distortions”, Mr Christie said he woke on Monday to allegations of him owning a condominium as a result of political impropriety. The claim was made in a video posted to Facebook.

“When I was getting up this morning, they showed me an account of a lunatic who was saying I should deny I own this condominium.

“This is what I (told) him,” Mr Christie said, before he briefly stuck up his middle finger to gasps, shock and laughter from those gathered.

Dr Minnis told reporters yesterday that this action demonstrated that Mr Christie is no longer “fit” to sit as Prime Minister of the Bahamas.

The Killarney MP said it has become clear that Mr Christie’s “arrogance has no limits”.

“His behaviour is that of someone who has become unhinged and extremely unstable, and our country needs strong moral leadership. Our international reputation is now at stake. And I (would add) that our national reputation was already being tarnished by this Prime Minister and this PLP government.

“I call on all Bahamians, religious leaders, civic organisations, the Christian Council, to condemn the Prime Minister and ask for an immediate apology.

“I call on the Prime Minister to do the honourable thing and resign and in the absence of doing this, he should call an immediate election so that we, the Bahamian people, can fire him,” Dr Minnis said.

Watch the video of Mr Christie’s gesture at tribune242.com

Defense

Mr Christie did defend his action shortly after it occurred, insisting that his political development followed the trajectory of a generation of politicians who witnessed very personal and vile attacks for much of their public lives.

As a result, he said, he was now weary and fed up with the baseless claims that did nothing except sell newspapers and tabloids.

He said on Monday: “Let me just tell y’all something . . . there is no possibility of my having weak knees in the face of the grossest lies. I worked from the basis that in my lifetime, I heard people say (former Prime Minister) Sir Lynden Pindling’s mother was not his mother.

“Where a man who is credited as being the architect of the modern Bahamas, had to go and secure affidavits to prove, ‘my mother is my mother.’

“You talking about lies and distortion? Well get used to it because they (the detractors and opposition) have no capacity to govern.”

Mr Christie, to resounding applause added: “They cannot govern. They have demonstrated a lack of ability to work together. They have no vision. All the evidence we have tells us they are a failure and we must be able to say it easily.”

Christie vs Minnis

While much of the focus following Monday’s function has been placed on Mr Christie’s action, many of his comments were directed at Dr Minnis concerning the former Official Opposition leader’s inability to command his party for much of the past five years.

The Centreville MP did not mince words, contending that Bahamians should not hand over the reigns of the country to a party as unstable and dysfunctional as the FNM.

In response, Dr Minnis said his leadership should not be viewed as an “issue”, warning voters not to allow Mr Christie to distract them from the true problems facing the country.

Dr Minnis said on the sidelines of his press conference: “The prime minister is in election mode, I am not the issue. The issue is his bad governance, his poor leadership, the economy of this country, the crime, the amount of people that are dying, the unemployment; those are the issues that face the nation today.

“Our downgrading and the reputation of this country that is being disturbed and lost. Those are the issues, I am not the issue.

“When you ask people what problems they face, the problems they face are the blackouts, lack of transparency, the victimisation, the corruption; let him talk about those.

“Those are the issues that face the Bahamian people and face the nation; not me, so tell the prime minister to get his act together, inform the nation what he has done and how he has destroyed and continues to destroy this nation and do the honourable thing and get the hell out and resign.”

Comments

The_Oracle says...

"Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned"
A classic case of delusional Megalomania.
The rest of them are just little"Gimme's" running around pocketing everything they can while
the chief is busy riding in his cloud.

Posted 1 March 2017, 10:28 a.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Someone in that crowd overheard Fwreddy Boy Mitchell excitedly shout: "SHOW ME THAT MAGICAL FINGER AGAIN!"

Posted 1 March 2017, 10:39 a.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Comrades! It appears that Minnis, along with the Preacherman's, are the only ones who couldn't handle the prime minister giving the finger to a 'single individual' who decided to publicly and pointedly challenge the PM's honesty in office.
Many in the public could have only wished they had seen the same give the finger reaction coming from Minnis to an individual - when he was being offered free, freshly caught fishes.
Comrades, the PM, did not give the finger to the assembled audience. The PM didn't give the finger to the nation's people. The PM gave the finger to one isolated individual in response to his honesty being put on public display in a negative manner.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:05 a.m. Suggest removal

licks2 says...

Tal. . .yoon making sense here. . .come again!

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:17 a.m. Suggest removal

sp1nks says...

What's with every post starting with "Comrades!"? It seems akin to someone on a corner spouting nonsense. The PM was wrong. There (still) remains a certain amount of respect and class a leader should display; in any situation.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:54 a.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Comrade Sp1Nks, yep, them on street corners are entirely different from you "normal" people.

Posted 1 March 2017, 12:25 p.m. Suggest removal

DDK says...

How can you POSSIBLY defend the man? The gesture is not fitting for a leader of state. Simple.

Posted 1 March 2017, 1:31 p.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Don't let your feelings of helplessness and despair about the lack of political alternatives in our country today turn to fear and paranoia, and eventually paralysis. There are important things many of us can still do to protect ourselves and our families as much as possible from what lies ahead. Around the world there are many people suffering a miserable existence in failed states because they ignored the writing on the wall. Keep in mind too that we already have an unusually high concentration of failed states in our region, namely Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and a couple of less well known ones in Central America.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:07 a.m. Suggest removal

Economist says...

I see a lot of EMPTY seats there.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:08 a.m. Suggest removal

DDK says...

NOW you're talking!

Posted 1 March 2017, 1:35 p.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Some say Crooked Christie put the final nail in his political coffin with his finger gesture. Unfortunately Crooked Christie's political coffin is bigger than most of us would like to think. Frankly it's big enough to hold everyone in our country. It therefore behoves us to do whatever we can to stay out of that big coffin of his by refusing to accept that hope and prayer, together with our belief in the goodness of mankind, are our only avenues for avoiding the harsh consequences of a future failed state. There are responsible things we can still do at this late stage even if no one in our family possesses a second passport. Too many in Venezuela today wish they had not ignored the same tell tale signs of the inevitable.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:14 a.m. Suggest removal

Honestman says...

Time to move on. There is an election to be won and an enemy of the state (aka The PLP) to be defeated.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:42 a.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Christie should have a psychological evaluation and then take two weeks vacation. Obviously the pressure is getting to him. Gutter politics is not new to the Bahamas, and it kept many qualified and well intentioned Bahamians out of the political arena. Barrack Obama had to spend many days proving he was a US citizen and fending off claims that his wife was not female and that his children were adopted. But apparently everything thrown at Donald Trump seems to roll off the ducks back. But he did flip the bird too at one point in his campaign and cussed out the media on more than one occasion. And not to forget how he described the female parts of one member of the press. But that doesn't make it right. And politicians are not the only ones under attach. Persons working in stores get cussed out regularly, especially for VAT. The public hospitals have ads running now saying that physical or verbal abuse will not be tolerated and even police actions will be taken if attacks persists. Drivers on the roads are rude, discourteous aggressive and road rage is on the increase. Horns start honking as soon as the light turns green and they want the traffic moving even though the intersection is not yet clear. Some politicians cannot even go to some houses in their districts while campaigning and it is not only for the fear of getting cussed out. Things tough, people desperate and rude and violent too. If you want to be in public service, especially politicians, you have to grow turbot skin and learn to duck blows even. So sad that we gotten this low in the gutters.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:45 a.m. Suggest removal

bluesky says...

By Flippin the bird, Christie stock just went up with the thugs and the jungalist.
The irony of this is, Christie can stoop up, pull down his pants, spank his backside and shout, kiss it, kiss it and he will still beat Dr. Minnis in the upcoming general election.

Posted 1 March 2017, 11:47 a.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

I question your sanity as well ......... you and Perry need to go to Shame Gibson for a psych evaluation like he recommended for Izzie ......... BOL

Posted 1 March 2017, 6:23 p.m. Suggest removal

Publius says...

This call to resign weeks before the general election is such a stupid call. He doesn't even know how to take what Christie did and use it politically to rally votes for himself and his party, which is what his focus ought to be on at this point.

Posted 1 March 2017, 12:13 p.m. Suggest removal

DDK says...

Give the Doc a break, why doncha?

Posted 1 March 2017, 1:51 p.m. Suggest removal

licks2 says...

The PM apologized in the HOA this morning. . .it also shows that the PM is badly wounded in the eyes of the people. . .he told us lump it in the short past. . .now he begs us to forgive his poor behavior. And if you did not see doc under every rock. . .you would see that for PM to resign now the doc is PM without any major fight. . .the PLP would be too badly fractured by that move they could not endure a leadership fight and the bounce-back all in less than three months! If you would stop being such a jealous FNM [sic Lanisha. Rolle] you would see some things doc do in a better light. I know you did not expect the doc to pull it off. . .but by grab he did! Suck it up. . .hold ya breath and lets see if he can govern too! Lol!

Posted 1 March 2017, 2:20 p.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Blue sky can't you see what's happening: The PLP is imploding while the FNM is growing like a quiet storm. Just minutes after threatening to attack Hubert Minnis look what happens to PGC. Who turned off the lights this time? The prime gonna prosecute your backside straight to jail.

Posted 1 March 2017, 12:20 p.m. Suggest removal

bluesky says...

John, there is no such a thing as the PLP imploding. PLP for life. Have you ever heard anyone say, "I born an FNM and I ga die an FNM? PLP thug life. I wouldn't be surprise if we soon see PLP T shirts with the flipped bird.

Posted 1 March 2017, 1:51 p.m. Suggest removal

reverendrichlkemp says...

Minus, Stop ya hating because the pm has the balls to do what you want to do but lacks the nerve to do.

Posted 1 March 2017, 2:33 p.m. Suggest removal

Gotoutintime says...

Our Prime Minister is a real class act!!

Posted 1 March 2017, 3:33 p.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

BOL ............ such sarcasm!!!!!!!!!

Posted 1 March 2017, 6:25 p.m. Suggest removal

Millennial242 says...

Finally ...Minnis finally gives the right response. You are right Mr Minnis...the problems of this country are the issue...not the leadership of the FNM. When election time comes let's focus on that! Who's solving the issues this country faces? Crime...poverty...economic downgrade...Paris is burning!

Posted 2 March 2017, 7:02 a.m. Suggest removal

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