Newly-elected Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis over the weekend blasted the Christie administration claiming that in its first three weeks of governance, it has already broken promises to Bahamians.

During his first speech as leader, Dr. Minnis said the Opposition will hold the government accountable for the promises it made while on its campaign trail and will fight against poor governance and victimisation.

“We will continue to ignite the torch, whose flame will keep the PLP’s feet to the fire,” he said at the FNM’s Convention held at Holy Trinity’s Activity Centre Saturday night.

“We will be a government-in-waiting, ready to rescue The Bahamas from the disaster that is already emerging in the Christie administration. It’s not just the victimisation that has started again. Even worse, they are already running away from their campaign promises. They were not ready on day one. And after 100 days, they will prove that they were never ready for the next five years.”

Dr. Minnis insists that the FNM will not oppose for the sake of opposing, but rather it will be a “torch of hope for the future.”

“Here at home we are living in a time filled with uncertainty, a time of anxiety that the newly elected government will quickly go back to its old ways. Already, many of the same old faces are back in the same places where they proved to be unproductive and self-fulfilling,” he said.

“Our task as the Opposition will be to remain ever vigilant in holding this government accountable, insisting on transparency and watching out for corruption. We will continue to promote equality and access to opportunity so that more of our people can achieve their goals and more greatly share in the wealth of our nation.”

The FNM leader said it was the Ingraham administration’s task to weather the great recession.

He said despite the party’s loss, FNMs believe that many Bahamians were thankful that Hubert Ingraham was in office during the global economic downturn.

“No matter the clever lie by our opponents, we significantly lessened the blows of this downturn through unprecedented emergency assistance, retraining programmes, massive infrastructure investments, which produced jobs and programmes like the new unemployment benefit. And no public officers were laid off as a result of the downturn,” Dr. Minnis said.

“We also had ambitious plans for economic recovery and growth here in New Providence in Grand Bahama and in the Family Islands. We will continue to promote our plans including plans like the Back to the Island Initiative and the development of a Native Food Market Over-the-Hill.”

Dr. Minnis said during the FNM’s term in office, it continued the infrastructural transformation of the country to prepare it for “first world status.”

A part of the PLP’s campaign ammunition against the FNM this past election was the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP), which was found to be over budget by nearly $100 million.

“While our opponents sought to demonise our accomplishments, we know that all of the good work we have done will uplift the Bahamian people. We never needed a slogan to tell us who comes first in our Bahamaland,” he said.

Dr. Minnis also blasted the government over its assertion that it will review the Ingraham administration’s compendium of crime bills that was passed late last year.

“The anti-crime bills we passed increased sentences for certain crimes. We urge the government to carefully ponder the view of some on reducing the crime sentences. Now is not the time to go soft on crime,” he said.

Dr. Minnis also defended programmes the Ingraham administration undertook in health and education.

While acknowledging defeat in the General Elections held earlier this month, the Opposition leader said that the country continues to “watch and wait”.

“The road ahead will be a challenging one. The government and Opposition must conduct ourselves in a manner befitting us as Parliamentarians. Civility is not weakness. But neither shall we retreat from the fierce contest of ideas, of beliefs of vision,” Dr. Minnis said.

“The Free National Movement will hold the torch of freedom high to light the way to a better future and to ignite the hearts and imaginations of the Bahamian people. We recommit ourselves to ensuring good governance, accountability and integrity in public office.”