Dear Editor,
In a drama series entitled "Paper Chase", we are reminded of the admonition to law students by Professor Kingsfield, who asserted: "When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. If the law is on your side, argue the law and when neither the facts nor the law are on your side, confuse them with 'BS'."
This general principle enunciated by the learned professor is still relevant today. To our dismay, however, neither the facts nor the law appear to be on the immigration minister's side. So, we are left with a clanging bell of muddled confusion.
In this rather sad saga, over the discretionary powers exercised by a minister responsible for immigration, there has been an attempted shift toward focusing on the whistleblower, rather than the essence of the leaked document itself.
We use "responsible" as the imperative here. Responsibility carries with it duty and obligation. There is a duty and accountability owed to the Bahamian electorate first and foremost.
No other country's desires should supersede the laws, and due processes of The Bahamas. Does this really need to be projected to government in 2023? Apparently, it does!
It is always easy for a government to attack the opposition or not answer direct questions raised by opposition members, however trivial or serious the issue. Obfuscation rather than explanation.
We had reason recently to cite the chronology of events that resulted in the resignation of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
A committee of his peers found that he had misled both Parliament and the public on Partygate, which occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Under the Westminster system, misleading Parliament and the people was more than sufficient reason to call for the prime minister's resignation.
What then is the response of this PLP government, as a political firestorm of hot embers is burning like a wildfire, over yet another immigration matter?
History seems to be sadly repeating itself. Lest we forget the debacle over Anna Nicole Smith and the then-minister of immigration, which contributed to the PLP losing the general elections of May 2007, despite the minister resigning in February of that year.
A. Loftus Roker, a senior statesman, one of the signatories of The Bahamas constitution, a proud nationalist, and a former minister of national security and immigration, has publicly raised serious concerns over leadership and the direction The Bahamas, and his party - it must be emphasized - is heading.
We intend to address how other resource rich developing countries have been cautious in managing their work permit and citizenship questions.
We restate what an old friend always says: When you mess up, confess and apologize (this stops the talk) and fixes the problem as quickly as possible.
We are human. We make mistakes. Let's learn from our errors and move forward.
— Diogenes
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