Former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Clement Maynard declared while a guest on the Love 97 programme “Jones and Company on Sunday that the Christie Administration is “waffling and has no clear-cut philosophy.
Sir Clement, who served as a PLP Cabinet Minister from 1967 to 1992, said such a clearly defined philosophy would mean that every Minister knows what the government believes in and stands for.
“I have a feeling that there is waffling. You can never be sure,” he said. “Furthermore, I don’t think that you should have to go to Cabinet for everything. Ministers must be Ministers.”
Asked by the show’s host, Wendall Jones, whether he was suggesting that the government is in fact drifting, Sir Clement – whose daughter Allyson Maynard-Gibson serves in Prime Minister Perry Christie’s Cabinet – responded, “Not quite.”
He said in some respects, if Ministers are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, the people do not know.
Sir Clement was also asked whether the government was making it easy for Bahamian businesspersons to progress.
“I think that there should be some way for those people who are business people and so on to know ‘If I bring in an application for something or if I’m seeking approval for something, I could get an answer to this in 15 days and the approval in 30 days,” Sir Clement said.
Asked whether this bespeaks poor governance if this is in fact not the case, he said, “All I know is it means that something is not going well because these are simple things, you know. All I’m saying is that Ministers have responsibilities and they ought to carry them out and they ought not be hindered in carrying them out.”
Mr. Jones said that Sir Clement’s comments appeared to suggest that “the engines of the government are not firing on all cylinders.”
The former Deputy Prime Minister said, “I think one can apply that.”
He also said that someone in government should be able to provide the Bahamian people with a progress report on the government’s progress in achieving significant goals set out in “Our Plan”, the administration’s contract with voters.
Sir Clement also said that the prime minister ought to be giving at least two major speeches per year.
He added that government’s problem appears to be one of public relations.
“I don’t think it is known exactly what the government is doing,” he said.
Godfrey Eneas, the show’s co-host, also asked Sir Clement why it is that the Senate is no longer a place where elder statesmen are able to offer meaningful input into the formulation of legislation.
The former Deputy Prime Minister explained that, “Nowadays, the Senate is a place where we’re not so keen on having them review legislation or suggest how things ought to be done.
“They’re there largely, the young ones, preparing to run for a seat in the House of Assembly. The older ones are there because it offers a certain amount of prestige, especially if you could become the president or the vice president.
“So it’s different from the old intension. The original intension [was for] senior persons who are experienced to be there because they understood and could make suggestions to the government on how to amend legislation that would come forward.”
He also lashed out at the present parliament, saying that he is sometimes embarrassed to watch debates in the House of Assembly which are now aired on cable television.
“My view is that there seems to me something wrong with the way the parliamentarians see themselves today,” Sir Clement said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
