EDITOR, The Tribune

Former Minister Mitchell’s statement following his election defeat is an insult to Bahamians at so many levels.

Characteristically, he refuses to be gracious in defeat and accept that he is now politically irrelevant.

His tin pot dictator and sour grapes utterances are the babbling of an egotistical and narcissistic soul unceremoniously banished to the political wilderness by the electorate. He is raging to be relevant again.

Thankfully he is no longer in power; no longer a Cabinet Minister; no longer a Member of Parliament. He is now 65 and will, by effluxion of time, and the blessings of nature, soon vanish into political oblivion. He will be 70 when the next elections are called and will be way past his “use by” date.

He is once again making false, rude and derogatory statements about Mrs Carron, Mr Bacon, Mr Izmirilian and myself. In his pique, Mr Mitchell remains rude and ungracious; he belittles everybody.

Our nation will recall when I went down on my knees and prayed fervently to God that Mr Mitchell should never become Prime Minister and also that he should lose his seat in Fox Hill in this election. Thankfully my prayers were answered and manifested in the will of the people.

Mr Mitchell affirms his unbridled lust for power which he wielded so absolutely and despotically, governing by ministerial dictat rather than by the Rule of Law. He does not deserve to be treated seriously.

I urge the citizens of our nation, who have overwhelmingly voted for democracy, to ignore him, so that hopefully he will fade into obscurity where he belongs, sooner rather than later.

However, we must be ever watchful of Fred Mitchell, the consummate political opportunist. He must be monitored. He must never be allowed to get into a position of power again.

Let us remember that Mr Mitchell burned our Constitution. He has no respect for the Rule of Law. He destroyed our democracy for the last five years. As Minister of Foreign Affairs he was abysmally undiplomatic. As Minister of Immigration he abused people’s rights.

So we must be ever watchful of him to ensure he does not rise like a phoenix from the ashes of his own self-destruction. He is, at heart, a power-crazed despot who must never be underestimated.

As a human rights activist I urge the nation to ensure that Mr Mitchell never gets any power again. Recall that at the last PLP convention he proclaimed his intention to increase his army of “Mitchell’s Macoutes” from 300 to 900.

Mr Mitchell is a man who is committed to becoming the first Dictator of the Bahamas.

I say to our nation, be very wary of Fred Mitchell, he remains a danger to democracy. Don’t sleep on this man.

FREDERICK SMITH QC

Freeport, Grand Bahama

May 15, 2017