Progressive Liberal Party Chairman, Fred Mitchell, says that an increase in Members of Parliament (MP) salary will not deter corruption in public office.
Mr. Mitchell’s statement came about as a result of Bain and Grant’s Town MP Travis Robinson’s statement that a salary increase for MP’s would stem the corruption, and that there must be a balanced approach when he compared the MP’s salary to that of janitorial salaries.
“One of his [PM Minnis] members of parliament, the youngest one got up and said you got to pay the salary because it’s a janitorial salary and because this is going to stop corruption.
“Salary has nothing to do with corruption. You’re either a good man or a bad man; a good woman or a bad woman, that’s how that works, and money doesn’t change whether you’re good or bad,” Mr. Mitchell said.
He further called for Robinson to apologize stating that his comments were insulting and out of line.
“That young man, who made that statement, the MP for Bain Town has to think again and really needs to apologize to the Bahamian public for that remark, because it’s insulting and totally out of line,” he said.
Supporting his party’s leadership stance to stand aside on the promise made by Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis to increase MP’s salary, Mr. Mitchell said in a YouTube video that the announcement by Dr. Minnis was hypocritical, as Dr. Minnis himself rejected the idea of a pay raise only three years ago, when he was the opposition.
“As chairman of the PLP, I want to support the announcement made by the Honourable Philip Davis who indicated that the Progressive Liberal Party stands aside from this request or promise by the Prime Minister.
“It really is as the leader says, a matter of hypocrisy because three years ago, when the Progressive Liberal Party was trying to deal with benefits and allowances and not salaries, he got up and made the statement that as long as he is the leader of the FNM, he would not see a pay raise for members of parliament, because there was too much human suffering in The Bahamas,” Mr. Mitchell said.
Alluding to another civilian that had recently given a 30-day-notice of termination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mitchell said that it’s an act of cruelty for the Minnis administration to suggest pay increase for MP’s when public servants are being dismissed.
