Party Leader and Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie and Mrs. Christie;

Deputy Party Leader and Deputy Prime the Hon. Philip Brave Davis and Mrs. Davis;

Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentarians;

Stalwart Councilors; Trustees; officers, members and supporters of our great; Progressive Liberal Party, a pleasant good evening.

Fellow Delegates from around the Bahamas.

We enter our 52nd National General Convention on the eve of a General Election and during the month of that defining historic event that changed the course of Bahamian history forever; that historically defining event is Majority Rule.

I have said this before and it is worth repeating: The historic significance of Majority Rule is equal only to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1834 and attainment of nationhood through independence in 1973.

The theme of our National Convention,

BUILD.EMPOWER.FORWARD.TOGETHER is timely and auspicious because the promise and product of Majority Rule are to build and empower our people so that together, we can move this country forward.

During these past fifty years Bahamians have worked tirelessly to build a free, modern, democratic state where each Bahamian has the opportunity to realize the full potential of his or her God given talent and to fully express his or her unalienable freedom and rights guaranteed by the constitution.

We in 2017 are the inheritors of this glorious legacy that must live on in perpetuity through transformational policies promulgated, shaped and formed at national conventions such as our 52ndNational General Convention.

The role of our political party is to ensure that it forms the government and remain the government so I am acutely aware of the gravity of the responsibility of the office of National Chairman and the branches.

Our philosophical underpinning is anchored in social justice and the principle of creating a level playing field through informed public policy so that all Bahamians have an equal opportunity to share in the resources and opportunities our fair Commonwealth has to offer. That philosophy is as relevant today as it was in 1953 when birth and life was given to the PLP.

Fellow delegates

In 2012 the Christie administration inherited an economy that the FNM leader admitted to leaving stranded in a wheel chair, with the FNM government spending over $500 million more than it collected and leaving absolutely no fiscal head room when they were kicked out of office. Unemployment doubled on the watch of the FNM; a mortgage crisis grew unabated; our tourism product was in the doldrums with little to no investment to speak of and the misery index for Bahamians was off the charts with a drastic increase in the poverty index.

Our PLP knew the country was in deep and serious trouble. We rolled up our sleeves and went to work. Baha Mar was rescued from an investor who could not finish the job.

We ensured that displaced Bahamian workers and unsecured Bahamian contractors were paid - and we put Baha Mar in the hands of a world-class operator with successful hotels across the region and the world. Already, construction has restarted and Bahamians are being hired. Baha Mar will open this winter, employing thousands of Bahamians and creating empowering entrepreneurial opportunities for many more.

CONVENTION DELEGATES I INVITE YOU TO STAND AND LETS GIVE A ROUSING APPLAUD TO PRIME MINISTER CHRISTIE FOR STEPPING IN THE GAP AND FIGHTING FOR THOSE BAHAMIANS TO ENSURE THAT THEY WERE PAID.

It is important to recall fellow delegates that Dr. Hubert Minnis and Loretta Butler-Turner said that Baha Mar would never open under the Christie administration; they were dead wrong. If it was left up to the FNM, Baha Mar would never open, leaving thousands of workers and contractors high and dry and penniless. Leadership and judgment are important attributes. Dr. Minnis and Loretta were weighed in the balance and found to be woefully deficient and wanting. Fellow delegates and Bahamians everywhere listen very carefully:

The FNM is a weakened and fractured organization because of the failed leadership of Dr. Minnis; its dirty linen was aired in public view at the FNM's convention last year and in the media. The majority of FNM MP's wrote a scatting letter describing Dr. Minnis as a failed leader among other many other charges.

In stark contrast, our Progressive Liberal Party is the only united political party in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Further delegates and Bahamians every one of the twenty three persons who served as Cabinet Ministers in Hubert Ingraham FNM Government, only one, Desmond Bannister supports Dr. Hubert Minnis and Peter Turnquest of the current lot.

There is one common refrain from those who no longer supports Dr. Minister and the refrain is that he is a lair and corrupt.

If a leader cannot promote unity and inspire confidence among his own colleagues, how on earth can he hope to manage a government and lead an entire nation? This is a very serious risk and a dark cloud of uncertainty that the Bahamian people can ill afford to vote for.

In stark contrast, steady and proven leadership has resulted in the addition of over 31,700 jobs to the economy since 2012 with more jobs on the horizon. There is still much more work to be done as no Bahamian family should be left behind. We suffered the devastation of two hurricanes and are keenly aware that while some islands have prospered, others are still in need of relief. We ask for your patience as ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY.

The PLP supports and celebrates the accomplishments of the government, the most united and transformational government our country has ever seen. The PLP is clearly an agent of change as evidenced by the broad human impact of its policies.

Fifty years after Majority Rule and in its 64

th year in existence, that glorious legacy of transformational change and empowering people continue:

University of The Bahamas

Urban Renewal 2.0)

Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute

National Training Agency

National Health Insurance

Air space management agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration).

Tax Reform (Value Added Tax)

An autonomous BTVI The Tripartite Council

A fully regulated online gaming regime
National Development Plan

Not one of these public institutions existed in 2012 so by definition, the country's most compelling option for change in 2017 is in fact the PLP.

Fellow delegates, with God's help and guidance we will emerge as the preferred leadership option for this ship of state called the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Thank you for your continued support and welcome to the 52

nd National General Convention of the Progressive Liberal Party.

May Almighty God bless your deliberations during this convention and may God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

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