NASSAU, Bahamas — Lamenting the “foolishness” that was hurled at the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) during the 2017 general election, former Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday (August 4) that he hopes the next election is not as dirty and urged political opponents to stop demonizing each other, The Nassau Guardian reported on Thursday, August 5.
Christie called into the Love 97 FM talk show “Issues of the Day” with host Wendall Jones to pay tribute to former governor general and Cabinet minister Arthur Dion Hanna, who died on Tuesday.
Jones asked Christie if he thought the country is “upwardly mobile or downwardly mobile”.
Christie said that it is “difficult to determine where we are” and said he was disappointed with the way the last election was fought.
He pointed to the firestorm that erupted in 2017 over repeated calls for his government to detail exactly how value-added tax (VAT) revenue was spent since its implementation in 2015.
During the PLP’s convention in January 2017, then-Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis provided a breakdown of what he claimed was the government’s use of the money, repeatedly saying, “That’s where the VAT money gone.”
But the opposition parties, including the Free National Movement, kept asking, “Where the VAT money gone?”
Christie said yesterday, “We cannot have elections fought over absolute foolishness that we fought before, that people stealing the VAT money.
“It is impossible to steal the VAT money, so to speak. Automatically, the FNM comes to power and says, ‘Oh we found the money. We found the $45 million.’
“You know, it is such BS that sometimes I say, ‘Where are the right-thinking people of our country?’ See complete story in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/christie-stop-demonizing-political-leaders/
