Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard said yesterday that Minister of State for National Security Keith Bell's assertion that the former FNM government is to blame for the high level of crime occurring today is "asinine and ridiculous".
"Despite all of the challenges facing [National Security Minister] Dr. Bernard Nottage, Keith Bell is substantially worse," Pintard said when called for comment. He should be dismissed from his present position and serve in some other capacity.
"We need real leadership in this time of crisis. There is no sense of urgency in this PLP government in terms of dealing with crime. There is no sense of outrage.
"They wish for us not to be passionate about this matter despite the havoc criminals are wreaking in this society."
During his contribution to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Amendment Bill on Monday, Bell said: "More criminal gangs developed between 2007 and 2012 under the FNM than at any other point in our history.
"Members of these gangs were allowed to wreak havoc on society between that period and now today, we have to clean up the mess left by the FNM's inaction and deal with today's crime challenges. Had the FNM government been responsive, a great deal of the violence that we are experiencing today could have been avoided."
There have been 122 murders so far in 2015.
Pintard said, "We see Mr. Bell as a politician who has a complete disconnect with this public and does not feel or identify with the pain and anxiety that this population is experiencing. It is unfortunate that he occupies a sensitive position that requires real leadership that has clear ideas on what must be done."
Cracking down on crime was a major plank for the Progressive Liberal Party during the 2012 general elections. During the Ingraham administration the PLP consistently criticized the government for rising murder rates. Several PLP MPs called for the then national security minister, Tommy Turnquest, to resign. In the lead-up to the 2012 election, the PLP erected controversial murder billboards that read: "Under the FNM 490-plus murders".
Nottage recently said that no one thanks the government when the country doesn't have murders.
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