Former Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes, one of just five signatories to The Bahamas constitution, who is still alive 50 years after independence was achieved, said yesterday Prime Minister Philip Davis' claim on the floor of the House of Assembly on Monday that opposition members of the delegation to the Constitutional Conference in London left before an agreement was reached was an absolute untruth.

Sir Arthur called on the prime minister to apologize to the former opposition delegates who attended the December 1972 conference.

Sir Arthur and Sir Orville Turnquest, another former governor general, are the only two former opposition delegates who are still alive.

He said it is "pathetic and unfortunate" that the prime minister has repeated an untruth on the floor of the House of Assembly.

"It is not true," insisted Sir Arthur when contacted by The Nassau Guardian yesterday.

"I have corrected it before and some people persist in spreading this untruth. It is not true and it is a slander against those of us in the opposition at the time and does nothing for national unity at a time when we should be celebrating unity."

Sir Arthur recalled, "Clement Maynard (who was a government member) left on the same flight as us. Others left the same day ... were routed through New York, because you couldn't get direct flights.

"The British government arranged to put us on flights where they could get seats and the conference was finished that day when we left. The prime minister should check his facts on that and I think he owes us an apology."

The independence issue was raised in the House of Assembly on Monday by Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe, who said the Free National Movement (FNM) had opposed independence.

Ahead of the 1972 election, the FNM adopted the position that the time for independence had not yet come.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) campaigned on the independence question and after victory at the polls pursued the independence of The Bahamas with the vote signifying the people's blessing.

With the government moving ahead with seeking independence from the British, opposition members were included in the 15-member delegation — headed by Lynden Pindling — who attended the Constitutional Conference.

In the House of Assembly on Monday, Glenys Hanna-Martin, whose father the late Arthur D. Hanna was a part of the delegation to the conference, said the FNM has a history of opposing.

"They opposed National Insurance, they opposed the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and on and on and on. It is a history of opposition," Hanna-Martin said.

"...The Free National Movement has a history of opposing progressive causes in this nation and today nothing has changed."

When Munroe spoke about the opposition the FNM had had to independence, St. Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright took exception to what he called "intellectual dishonesty".

"The member for Freetown (Munroe) and other members of the government have tried to suggest the Free National Movement was not a vocal voice in support of it but in truth, at that independence conference, there were matters emanating that the PLP did not support," Cartwright said.

"For example, Madam Speaker, and you will find this very interesting, the Free National Movement supported the full enshrinement of equality of women in the constitution, but the Progressive Liberal Party did not."

The prime minister then rose on a point of order.

"You talking about the road to independence," Davis said.

"What the member (Munroe) is speaking about is the fact that the FNM as a body and individually were saying no to independence and their view was 'not now; we ain't ready'.

"That was their firm position. That's the point he was making. Now, and it was put to the electorate and they were on the side, and the FNM was on the side and they were arguing no to independence. That's the point he made."

The prime minister continued, "Now, after the people rejected the view of the FNM, and then the issue of the Constitutional Conference came up, right, it was only right for the opposition to have some say in shaping, not their way, have their say in the crafting of the constitution.

"In fact, you know, they left. Christmas was coming. They signed off and said, 'Sir Lynden, whatever y'all say, we with it,' and they came back home.

"That's all part of the record."

It's also a claim that A. Loftus Roker, who was a government member, has repeatedly made.

But Sir Arthur has always insisted this is not true.

"I have my constitution papers to prove it was untrue," he said yesterday.

"I have Kendal Isaacs (who led the opposition's delegation) talking about an issue that Loftus Roker said we never participated in, in the minutes of the conference."

Sir Arthur further explained, "Everybody signed the signature page, which is usual in cases like these.

"The first draft report was sent to us days later that we looked over and we were asked if we had any comments before it was finalized, and then the full report was sent a little later, so that thing about signing a blank piece of paper is utter rubbish.

"We did not leave before the conference was concluded. In fact, I have a letter that Kendal wrote to Pindling asking him for a document because he said we left hours after the conference ended. This is so pathetic."

Yesterday, George Smith, who was a young parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and a member of the delegation to the conference, also said it is untrue for anyone to say the opposition left the conference early and left it to the government to make final decisions.

"Talks were over and they signed the thing and they left, but so did some members of the PLP delegation," Smith said.

He said after Isaacs and Pindling met and reached a final agreement on citizenship matters, Pindling was to go and see the then-prime minister of Britain, Edward Heath.

"Kendal and his chaps signed the document that Lynden Pindling and others are photographed signing," Smith said.

"The opposition, all their members, had already signed it, so they fulfilled their obligation having signed it."

Smith, the Davis administration's consultant on 50th independence observations, said making the "untrue" claim is unhelpful for national unity, especially in a year when The Bahamas is observing 50 years of independence.

"Why would you sign something and then walk away? It makes no sense, but it's a narrative that is born out of the misrepresentation of the facts," Smith said.

He noted that the opposition voted for the adoption of the white paper on independence in the House of Assembly.

Sir Arthur said yesterday, "We should be about unity and all the rest of it now in this 50th, but that's what's happening, unfortunately. We create divisions where divisions need not exist."

In addition to Sir Arthur, Smith, Sir Orville and Roker, Philip Bethel, who lives on Eleuthera, is the only other signatory alive today.

The post Sir Arthur calls on PM to apologize for 'pathetic' claim made in House appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Sir Arthur calls on PM to apologize for 'pathetic' claim made in House appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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