During a heated exchange in the House of Assembly yesterday, Fort Charlotte Member of Parliament Dr. Andre Rollins urged Prime Minister Perry Christie to urge Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis to attend House of Assembly sessions more frequently.
Dr. Rollins said the fact that his leader, Dr. Minnis aspires to be leader of the country, he should always be present during parliamentary proceedings.
The FNM leader has been absent for the last two sessions of the House of Assembly.
“You want to be prime minister and you want to be the most powerful person in this country like the Right Honourable Member for Centreville; I expect that the person who is aiming for your job is present and accounted for every day inside this House. I look down there and I see absence,” lamented Dr. Rollins.
“If I were you, I’d call him out on it. Leadership means that you stand up to your feet even if you feel that you are weak, you stand; and the Long Island, Montague and Central Grand Bahama and Bamboo Town, we will help you stand,” he added.
Dr. Rollins was one of seven FNM MP’s who successfully ousted Dr. Minnis as Opposition Leader in the House of Assembly last December.
Meantime, Dr. Rollins also criticized the Progressive Liberal Party Government regarding numerous issues.
One of those criticisms pertained to the negativity surrounding the beleaguered multi-billion dollar resort Baha Mar.
“Sir Lynden Pindling knew that it would have been counter to the best interest of this country to allow state control of your economy by a foreign power,” Dr. Rollins said.
“You think the Chinese would ever have controlled Baha Mar if Sir Lynden Pindling in his economic philosophy were allowed to make a determination,” Dr. Rollins asked.
While admitting that it is “more than just a government problem”, the Fort Charlotte MP further criticized the government for keeping its head in the sand when it comes to issues with the New Providence Landfill.
“As it relates to the landfill, it is totally unacceptable for Bahamians to invest over $100,000 to build their empire on a piece of rock, where they have two-year-olds, three-year-olds who are developing asthma and potentially will be afflicted with leukemia or other cancers at a young age simply because we want to bury our heads in the sand,” he charged.
Responding to MP’s jeers during his contribution, Dr. Rollins sought to clarify the point that he was not raising the aforementioned points for political gain.
“It isn’t about politics Mr. Speaker. Me being in here was never about politics. That is why I have no regrets about anything I have done in here. To try to say that I’m prepared to do anything to survive politically would make me a prostitute; and I’m not prepared to do anything to stay in this place,” Dr. Rollins said.
“Unlike some inside here who will sit down and do whatever their side asks them to do so they can stay on the gravy train. Well let me take that back-so they can continue to say ‘I am an MP’. Man, get over it. You have nothing to live for in life if that’s all that you care about,” he added.
The Fort Charlotte MP’s sentiments came during what was supposed to be a contribution towards the debate of the bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Code, a bill which Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell proposes will seek to be compliant with international law.
