Saying that there were Bahamian politicians like Sir Lynden Pindling who had undergone “greater degrees of difficulties” than he ever has, Holy Cross MP Sidney Stubbs said Thursday that he is convinced that he is the right man to run under the PLP banner in that constituency in the next general election.
“Lynden Pindling went through commissions of inquiry. I was never accused of cohabitating with drug dealers or doing this or doing that. I was never accused of selling a nation. I was never accused of doing this,” said Mr. Stubbs, who was a guest on the Love 97 programe “Issues of the Day”.
The showﾒs host, Wendall Jones, told Mr. Stubbs that he cannot compare himself to the late former prime minister, and the Holy Cross MP insisted that he was not.
Mr. Stubbs said, “I am looking at the stark political reality and I can look at other countries where politicians have gone through periods and theyﾒve emerged from the fire, stronger, better equipped to give better representation to their people, more mature to firm up the body politicﾅand also to be a better asset to their parties.”
The Holy Cross MP said politicians like Sir Lynden who underwent difficulties “stayed in the political fray, developed, became very successful and moved on.”
He said there are many examples of politicians around the world who have come from the depths of nowhere, pointing even to German dictator Adolf Hitler.
“I think that Iﾒve been through the fire,” Mr. Stubbs said. “Iﾒve re-emerged and I think the people of Holy Cross still have confidence in me and if an election was called tomorrow, I would beat which ever opponent is placed to run with me; I would beat them soundly and I would increase my winning margin.”
He said he has gained support in Holy Cross “across the board”.
“Despite all of the controversy, I have gained and picked up more support in Holy Cross. Why? Because Iﾒve always been there with the people. Iﾒve always worked with my people,” Mr. Stubbs said.
“Yeah, you have detractors who may not and would not support meﾅbut by and large the body politic, the majority of voters of Holy Cross who are rational, sensible peopleﾅthey know that Sidney Stubbs is a person who believes in them, who will represent their best interest and if theyﾒre going to send someone to parliament, they would rather send Sidney Stubbs.”
Mr. Stubbs, who praised Perry Christie as prime minister, said Mr. Christie has given stellar leadership to the country through his consultative style, but he said there are many Bahamians who have not taken full advantage of this.
The MP has faced various controversies, including the firings of several employees of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) when he was executive chairman.
Then there was the Korean boat debacle involving a commercial deep-sea fishing venture that was embroiled in controversy.
In his letter to the prime minister in November 2003, Mr. Stubbs, who was resigning as executive chairman, insisted that, “neither the corporation nor myself did anything wrong or illegal.”
But controversy continued to follow him when the Supreme Court declared him bankrupt months later. A media firestorm was set off and Mr. Stubbs remained out of parliament for more than a year while the matter dragged on before he was victorious before the Privy Council.
Mr. Stubbs said Thursday he is convinced that all of those controversial matters are indeed behind him and he believes that his constituents are also convinced of this.
“The people of Holy Cross know the real story,” he said. “They know that I went through a period of unsettling events, I will call it, where I had my issues in BAIC. I went through the bankruptcy thing and they stood by me. But they also know that I dealt with those issues effectively. I cleared my name. I went all the way to the Privy Council.”
He added, “With the Korean boat situation, that was a process where I took the time out at every single meeting that I had at Holy Cross. I explained to the people exactly what happened. I explained to the people that that was not my project.
“The majority of the people of Holy Cross believe these are issues that are behind me and they would like to see me move on and continue my representation.”
But former FNM Cabinet Minister Algernon Allen, who called into the show, suggested to Mr. Stubbs that he might be off base in his assessment of how he is generally viewed by Bahamian voters.
“I believe that Mr. Stubbs, who is obviously highly educated and an extremely intelligent man, must make some very difficult choices, and I give this advice totally unsolicited because I do believe that time will prove that he will have a tremendous impact on some aspects of national development,” Mr. Allen said.
“I believe, howeverﾅthat you may have to make a determination whether you stay in there, and as a consequence of your being there it compromises the position of your organization (the PLP) albeit through no fault of yours, but by the very thing which you talk about, which becomes realities, namely the untoward assault upon you which has continued and will continue throughout any election period.”
Mr. Allen told Mr. Stubbs he had to make a choice between his immediate personal desires and the needs of the Progressive Liberal Party.
“It is a very difficult [choice],” he said. “I do not envy you with it, but my friend, it is coming as sure as night follows day.”
Mr. Allen urged Mr. Stubbs to come to terms with political reality.
“The political reality is that there is a consensus that has built across the board of the country, which includes at the very highest level even of your organization. I believe that your remaining in place as a candidate in Holy Cross may compromise your organizationﾒs chances of winning,” Mr. Allen said.
Asked if he agreed with this view, Mr. Stubbs indicated that he did not.
“I think thatﾒs the most dastardly thing that somebody could say and that is a good example of the third degree of politics which people practice in this country,” he said.
Mr. Stubbs was referring to a level of politics, which he said has to do with the practice of “paper bag politics” where politicians “keep things at the level that they are accustomed to. Itﾒs politics by the rumor mill, politics by deceit and diversion and politics by division.”
Further responding to Mr. Allen, Mr. Stubbs said, “It is amazing that one is prepared to forgive John Blow, but not prepared to forgive and forget Sidney Stubbs, and the very concept and notion that one can say that three or four issues would compromise a political party that happens to be an institution in this country is disingenuous and designed to create mischief and problems.”
Mr. Stubbs also fielded phone calls from listeners with some of them praising his work in Holy Cross and others insisting that he was not a good representative for the area.
Although he reminded that he did seek forgiveness before for certain actions he took, the Holy Cross MP insisted that he was not now seeking forgiveness for anything.
“I only want the record to be set straight,” he said, “and history will prove that a lot of things that were blamed on Sidney Stubbs were not Sidney Stubbsﾒ doing.”
He said many things that were blamed on him had been calculated “from day one”.
Mr. Stubbs also denied the suggestion that he was the lightening rod of criticism for the PLP.
“There are far bigger things for people to look at and I think anybody, any Bahamian who would want to use Sidney Stubbs as a lighten rod, as a marker, I think they are being disingenuous in 2006,” he said. “It is not so.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
