NASSAU| The Progressive Liberal Party issued a statement regarding the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition, Michael Pintard, following the partial ruling in the arbitration case between the government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority:
Michael Pintard’s statement on the GBPA arbitration surprised no one. It was not written for the people of Grand Bahama. It was written for the two families who own the Grand Bahama Port Authority. And everyone in this country knows it.
Mr. Pintard repeated the GBPA’s talking points word for word. He used the GBPA’s language. He adopted the GBPA’s framing. He arrived at the GBPA’s conclusion. His statement and the Port Authority’s press release are indistinguishable because they serve the same interest.
Michael Pintard works for the GBPA. He always has. Nothing about the FNM has changed under his leadership. Nothing.
The FNM has always been the party of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged. When wealthy families need protection from accountability, the FNM answers the call. When private interests need a political voice to push back against a Government that dared to challenge them, Michael Pintard volunteers. That is not new. That is the FNM’s entire history, and Pintard is simply the latest to carry the bag.
Mr. Pintard says the Government’s claim was “dismissed in full.” He does not mention that the Tribunal confirmed the GBPA must pay the Bahamian people annually until 2054. He does not mention that seven of the GBPA’s eight counterclaims were rejected, including a billion-dollar demand against the taxpayer. He does not mention that the Tribunal confirmed the Government’s authority over licensing, immigration, customs, utilities, land, and the environment in Freeport. He does not mention any of that because the families he works for told him not to.
Mr. Pintard asks how much the arbitration cost. We ask: how much did the FNM’s decades of silence cost? It was the FNM that signed the 1994 Agreement extending the GBPA’s concessions. It was the FNM that let the payment mechanism go dormant. It is the FNM today that calls it a waste of money when a PLP Government finally holds the Port Authority to account.
The FNM did nothing for Grand Bahama because doing nothing is what the families wanted. Pintard would do the same.
And the Bahamian people saw it for themselves at the town hall. Mr. Pintard did not command that room. He did not persuade it. He embarrassed himself and he embarrassed his party in front of the very people he claims to represent. A leader in a downward spiral, unable to control his own caucus, unable to articulate a vision for Grand Bahama, unable to do anything except read the GBPA’s lines and hope nobody notices.
Michael Pintard is the weakest leader the FNM has ever had. Not brave enough to stand up to the families who fund his politics. Not strong enough to break from the old FNM playbook of serving power while pretending to serve the people. Not serious enough to read a 139-page ruling before going on national television to misrepresent it.
Hubert Ingraham would never have carried water for the GBPA. He would have been ashamed. Michael Pintard does it without hesitation because that is all he has left.
The Bahamian people have always known who the FNM works for. It is not the mother in Eight Mile Rock. It is not the fisherman in West End. It is the families in the boardroom.
Nothing has changed. The FNM serves power. The PLP serves the people.
