COOPER'S TOWN, North Abaco -- PLPs have been downplaying their leader, Perry Christie, during their campaign and instead pushing the party because "they don't want him", Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said yesterday.

Ingraham made the statement minutes after nominating for the eighth time to represent the North Abaco constituency, which he pointed out has maintained the same geographical makeup during his seven terms in the House of Assembly. The prime minister was one of 133 people who nominated yesterday, according to officials of the Parliamentary Registration Department. Ingraham lashed out at Christie when asked by The Nassau Guardian if he intends to serve a full term as prime minister if he is reelected.

Christie told The Nassau Guardian earlier in this term that if he is reelected he would not serve a full term as prime minister. He later said he would serve the full five years. Ingraham said yesterday outside the administrator's office in Cooper's Town where he nominated, "If I do change my mind you would know. I will serve as long as I can and as long as the people of The Bahamas will have me. "Mr. Christie hasn't changed his mind (about not serving a full term). I have yet to see a statement from him that contradicts what he said. "When he had pressure on him in the party he announced that if he won the election he would serve for two years. That's when he had pressure. Now that he doesn't have that pressure, he says he's changed his mind, but he knows how stupid it was to say it in the first place, but he makes lots of stupid statements. "Why would somebody ask people to vote for them for five years and then in the middle of it change their mind? From The Bahamas' point of view, they should believe the first story Christie told -- that is if he gets elected, he would follow through and leave quickly because they don't want him. "You can see that in the posters that they put up that they are seeking to push the PLP and seeking to hide Christie as much as they can, but we are not going to let Christie hide, we're going to put him up there. And he makes all sorts of bogus statements that I'm going to lose my seat, what a joke."

PLP candidate Renardo Curry and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) candidate Sonith Lockhart also nominated. Fixed date Ingraham also again addressed repeated calls for a fixed election date. He noted that in order for this to happen there must be a two-thirds majority vote in the House of Assembly and a constitutional referendum. "So when this glib conversation takes place about fixed election dates, I just want the facts to be known to the public of The Bahamas," Ingraham said. "It is not me who decides that. This is a system put in place by the founders of The Bahamas who happened to be the PLP at the time. They created this. They had this for six times when (former Prime Minister the late Sir Lynden) Pindling was alive. When Perry (Christie) was in office he had it. It was okay then. Now that Ingraham is prime minister they want to change it." Ingraham said The Bahamas has "as near a fixed term as possible". "The House will meet on May 23. That will be exactly five years from the last election," he said. "The same thing happened in 2007. The same thing happened in 2002 and you go back and back and back. "The only time there was an early election is when I called one. I called one early in March of 1997, six months before time. Every other election has gone its full term for five years, all the times the PLP has been in full term. Now that we are in something is wrong."

Gratitude Ingraham said this is his last time running for office and he would never be able to fully repay the people of North Abaco. "But I shall pay you by installments and I shall pay you for as long as I live," he said, adding that many successes were achieved in the decades he represented North Abaco. "Where my house is was the last house in this town. This was all bush. We had no electricity, no running water, no telephones, no cables, cellular phones, we couldn't even dream of that. We have made great advances. We've made great advances. "We've come from a small fishing village to what we are today and we are a relatively prosperous community, we're doing fairly well and we're very thankful. "One of the things that we are hoping to do over the next year or so is to create the (shipping container) port in North Abaco, work on which will start very shortly, that will help to produce better balance for the economic growth and development of the island of Abaco." Ingraham said he had already expected to be out of politics. "I came back because I was asked by the people," he said. "I provided service and I'm going to offer myself to them for this one final time."

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