St Margarets MP Pierre Dupuch was severely criticised yesterday by members of the public who accused him of defending the PLP on a popular talk show.
Irate callers said Mr Dupuch had betrayed his former party, the FNM, and one referred to him as a public relations representative for the Progressive Liberal Party.
As a guest on Jeff Lloyd’s show ‘Real Talk’, Mr Dupuch said that too much media attention was being, placed on the altercation between MPs Kenyatta Gibson and Keod Smith.
He alleged that the FNM was putting more emphasis than necessary on the issue to strengthen their own personal causes.
However, several callers thought that Mr Dupuch should concentrate on the government in power instead of criticising former prime minister Hubert Ingraham and the FNM.
One caller said: “it seems like you folks spend more time trying to ridicule the FNM. Let’s stop talking about opposition. Let’s talk about the PLP – they are the government, they are our leaders. Let’s talk about them, they are the people who we. elected to lead.”
The caller added that one of the roles of the opposition is to criticise the government on anything they are doing wrong.
However, Mr Dupuch said he was not attempting to criticise the FNM but was criticising the media for over-analysing the issue when other issues of equal or greater importance received less attention.
“First of all I am here to answer questions, not to ask questions, so when I’m asked questions, I answer what my opinion is,” he said.
“I am saying it has been overplayed and a lot of things were exaggerated by the opposition.
“I was simply bringing you comparisons and showing by those examples how this Gibson business is being overplayed,” Mr Dupuch said.
“I am criticising the FNM because they are acting very badly,” he added.
Nonetheless, one caller said she believed that Mr Dupuch was cunningly attempting to influence the Bahamian public. She said that there was no credibility in what the MP said and that he was only trying to justify a fight that could not be justified.
Mr Dupuch, who seemed to remain undaunted, suggested throughout the show that the public check the facts and draw conclusions of their own.
He noted that he was not trying to take away from the seriousness of the issue but was merely saying that some people were deliberately overplaying it for personal reasons.
By KRYSTEL ROLLE, The Tribune
