Symonette speaks on leadership issues
By VANESSA C. ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter
The sins of the father should not be placed on the son, Brent Symonette said Sunday. The son of the late Sir Roland Symonette, first premier of The Bahamas and former leader of the United Bahamian Party (UBP) was a guest on Island FM's radio talk show "Parliament Street."
"If John Doe is saying that this white person can be prime minister, but Brent Symonette can't be prime minister, I have a problem with that. If I take my parents and the era I grew up in, we're past that," said Mr Symonette.
He said that the issue in The Bahamas was not minority rule anymore, that there had been generations of children born after that era. "I think we need to move on, or is it a question of where you live or what kind of car you drive? Is that what is the distinguishing factor?"
"Parliament Street" host Anthony Delaney suggested that the race issue was something that had been "danced around" for so long, but it was time to put the proof in the pudding. He asked Mr Symonette if he, at some point, should take over the leadership of the Free National Movement (FNM), what he would believe would be the big issue against him.
"I think that there is no question that the political rhetoric of the question will be the whole question of colour. The issue will be the question of my colour and my economic background, the whole question of my political background, and very high on the list, fortunately it has gone off the radar screen but I'll bring it back on, is the whole question of my role at the Airport Authority and resigning as the chairman ... and possibly I don't have a grasp for the needs of the common man," Mr Symonette answered.
"I equate just as easily with the fellows on Step Street, as I do with the fellows on the Eastern Road. That's me," he said.
He was asked whether he thought it might be possible that the Bahamian electorate might be ready and willing to accept a prime minister who has stepped aside and will come back again, referring to former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who led the FNM to victory in 1992 and led the country for 10 years.
Mr Symonette said Mr Ingraham had done a lot for the country and mashed a few corns, "but that was in the best interest of The Bahamas as a whole." He said that it was up to Mr Ingraham to decide if he wanted to come back and run the FNM.
"There are constant discussions going on out there, but Mr Turnquest is the leader, and so long as he is the leader, he has my full support, one thousand per cent," said Mr Symonette, adding that the FNM parliamentary leadership has been working as a team; suggesting anything different, he said, could only come from people on the government's side.
"But they have the same problem. They don't know who their leader is. One day it's one person, and the next day it is another person, and this minister wants to be leader. But that is why this budget is going to be a total failure, because I watched the Prime Minister's face when one minister said that her ministry was going to increase taxes, and it looked like it came at him totally out of the blue," said Mr Symonette.
One listener called in to the show and asked Mr Symonette whether he would be running for the position of deputy leader, with Mr Ingraham running for the position of leader again.
"I am not aware that any deal as been struck. Mr Turnquest is the leader of the FNM. There is no convention on the horizon for the FNM. Far too many Bahamians on a regular basis wishing me well, and I consider their love and their well wishes. Come convention, it will be known one way or the other whether Brent Symonette will be running for leadership, and I will make it very clear so that there will be no mistake or misunderstanding as to whether or not I will be running for leadership," he said.
