Christie Expresses Regret

“In looking at it, yes, you regret. There’s no doubt about that, but as to what you would do in a particular circumstance it really depends on the circumstances,” said Mr. Christie, who was the special guest on the Love 97/JCN TV programme “Jones and Company”, which aired on Sunday.

“The only point I make to you is that we are witnesses today that there are people who to our certain knowledge sitting in the new government who have been the subject of severe criticisms that go to the root of their existence in public life and they are elected members of parliament serving the people of our country and doubtless intending to do the best they could.”

During his tenure as prime minister, Mr. Christie was forced on the defensive more than once, and was often criticized for not acting soon enough and forceful enough to address the controversies that plagued his administration.

For instance, many people called for him to act when controversies erupted at the Bahamas Agriculture and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) early on in his term.

There was also a call for action when his MPs – Kenyatta Gibson and Keod Smith – got into a physical confrontation in the Cabinet Office last year; and more recently when then Immigration Minister Shane Gibson became embroiled in the Anna Nicole Smith controversy, which came to a head with his resignation earlier this year.

While on the programme, Mr. Christie said he had done “scientific assessments” on his decisions.

“There is no doubt that there were people who expected a different decision with respect to individuals or alternatively a quicker decision,” he said.

“The fact of the matter is in every one of the cases that I had to deal with I was dealing with people with a clear view that I would at the end of the process be able to demonstrate to Bahamians why I did what I did and why it took the time that it did because in each instance I wanted to ensure that the person I was dealing with had the opportunity to be fully vindicated in whatever position he took.”

Mr. Christie also said, “I think hindsight is always important, and I have learnt from that experience and I would perhaps be more aggressive.”

The former prime minister, whose party lost the May 2 election, but still managed to win a sizeable number of the seats in the House of Assembly, also admitted that his administration took too many things for granted.

“Some of us weren’t as connected to our constituencies as we should have been. We did not, I think, assess correctly the ‘scandals’ impacting the party and notwithstanding that we still are trying to determine the extent to which influences and strong vested interests influenced the general election,” he said.

Mr. Christie said that as leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, he had no choice but to take responsibility for the loss on May 2.

“Obviously, as the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party I must do that, but I’m also the leader to ensure that the party is able to rebound quickly and I was mindful of my responsibility in the midst of defeat to ensure that I could be a source of inspiration to our supporters because we knew we had to find out quickly what went wrong and we were in the process of making those assessments when we determined that we would take at least three of these cases to court, and mathematically if the cases are won you know that it results in a majority – whether a manageable majority is arguable – but a majority for the PLP,” he said.

“So truly we were not accepting that it was an ordinary defeat in a general election even though the facts spoke for themselves and so in my accepting responsibility I also accepted the responsibility to re-inspire, re-invigorate the PLP to move it toward a convention when the decision of the convention would determine leadership moving forward.”

Mr. Christie said he is satisfied that as leader he enjoys the confidence of the PLP’s parliamentary team, the National General Council and PLP supporters in general.

“My feelings about my leadership have been greatly encouraged as I move about the country by people who’ve told me to hold the course, to stay steady,” said the former prime minister, who added that his party will hold a convention early next year.

“At the same time I have to tell you that as a leader I had to have in contemplation when it would be time to move on. And clearly, even though I had not made any definitive statements – because we saw how mistaken people can be in doing that – this was a period if I had won the elections when I would have been making a major effort to ensure that we had a clear line and a defined line to succession.”

Mr. Christie also insisted that as far as he was concerned, the country was ready for a general election on May 2, in terms of the level of preparedness of Parliamentary Registration Department officials.

“The parliamentary commissioner, I thought, was very clear in his advice that he had sufficient support, and where he didn’t our preparedness to give him that support was in place, and so I assumed in going into the elections that we had conformed in every which way with the requirements of the law and practice,” he said.