As the old saying goes ‘a little sometimes reveals a lot’; so it has come to be in the matter involving a promise, a parliamentary seat and two men who were once thought to be comrades-in-arms.
Reference here is to the Reverend C. B. Moss, the Hon. Bradley Roberts and a ‘promise’ made some time ago as to when Mr. Roberts would, could, or should retire from front-line politics, and thereby make way for a bye-election in the Bain Town constituency.
And presumably thereafter the good reverend would have been given the nod to carry the Party’s flag. And presumably thereafter- wins the seat. Right off the top there are too many ‘presumablies’ in this scenario.
The bottom line today is that there will be no retirement; and for sure there will be no resignation on the part of a Bradley Roberts who is convinced that his services to the current administration are so highly valued by the prime minister that he must stay on. This is precisely what he tried to convey in a letter he sent to the Reverend Dr. C.B. Moss.
As he caustically reminded a totally disgruntled Rev. C. B. Moss: “the prime minister told you that his view was based on the fact that I was too important to his government in view of the magnitude and scope of national work needed to be accomplished by the PLP Government in its term in office.
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, who is also Leader of The Progressive Liberal Party, has publicly affirmed his Minister; and confirms that the Hon. Bradley Roberts has his total support.
This leaves the matter involving the seat, and the promise; and the opinions of all parties concerned where it rightly belongs; which is for the attentive consideration of the attentive public in Bain Town.
When the day comes they will decide whom they want as their representative in the House of Assembly. And for sure, no one knows who will ultimately prevail. And yet again since no one other than God Almighty knows the future, everyone involved in conjectures about the seat and who should fill it whenever and however it becomes vacant should put a grip on it. A pinch of humility would do all parties a world of good.
Put otherwise, we call on all parties involved in this most unfortunate public airing of publicly made promises and pronouncements and publicly expressed disappointments to check themselves; be decisive, and if needs be – move on.
But having said that, and duly noting that there was technically speaking never any real agreement between the parties concerned in this matter, we are quite persuaded that the issue could have and should have been amicably resolved.
Reverend Moss was important in the PLP scheme of things as the record shows in copious detail, he played a role of a lifetime in the work he did with the Save-Clifton Coalition. And as everyone knows, he was most instrumental in keeping this issue on the front burner at a time when some of his colleagues in the PLP did not have a clue as to what the issue was all about.
In other words, the man paid his dues.
And to be quite candid about the rest of the story.
Practically everyone we have spoken to suggests that a victorious Progressive Liberal Party – in due recognition and with appropriate appreciation of his contribution- would have seen to it that Reverend Moss got what was his due.
We must point out that absolutely no one we know agrees with the proposition that the number 2 position in the Senate measures up to the height of the contribution Rev. Moss made to the party’s effort. We are inclined to agree with them.
The sum of the matter -as far as we are concerned -is that the coalition which is today’s victorious Progressive Liberal Party should never-ever forget from whence it came, namely from the ashes of defeat. Truth is they can -by choice of the people- be returned to the dust.
And as experience teaches, this end never comes in one fell swoop. Like rust and corrosion, it always takes time: one disgruntled voter after the other; and after that a flood; and after that defeat.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
