After serving three years in the upper chamber, Progressive Liberal Party Senator Cyprianna McWeeney announced her resignation last night, ending months of speculation.
Reading a letter she wrote to Senate President Sharon Williams, Mrs. McWeeney said that she was resigning “in order to pursue some exciting new opportunities that I simply cannot put off any longer.”
But she quickly added, “This is not the time and place to announce what these new ventures are. They will be revealed in the fullness of time and in the appropriate setting. What I can reiterate, though, is that I will not be taking up a job or consultancy in the Prime Minister’s office or in any other part of the government. Those rumors, as I have said before, are completely unfounded.”
Mrs. McWeeney said it gives her particular pleasure and pride to know that during the past three years she has had the privilege of defending the ideals of the PLP and the programmes and policies of the government.
“I believe in the PLP and I believe in the government of the Right Honourable Perry Christie,” she added. “I believe that the PLP and Perry Christie are still the best hope for this country of ours. I believed that when I agreed to serve in the Senate back in May of 2002 and I believe it even more passionately now in July of 2005 as I leave the Senate to pursue new ventures.”
She also thanked the prime minister for giving her the opportunity to serve the country in the Senate.
“I am truly grateful for the confidence he placed in me,” Mrs. McWeeney said. “He is a truly great leader and he knows that he will always be able to count on my fullest support.”
She also said, “I am a Bahamian patriot to the core. You can therefore be assured, Madam President, that I will continue to serve my country.”
Mrs. McWeeney is the third senator to resign from the upper chamber since the new government came to power in 2002.
In early 2003, PLP Senator Edison Key resigned, triggering a nasty row with the prime minister whom he said was a poor leader.
It would be October before Prime Minister Christie appointed Grand Bahama community activist Caleb Outten to fill the seat left vacant by Mr. Key.
The prime minister indicated that the new senator was a symbol of hope for the future and a representation of all that is good in Bahamian youth.
Earlier this year, Free National Movement Senator Desmond Bannister resigned and was eventually replaced by attorney, John Delaney.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
