In the Tribune today, Adrian Gibson comments on the Elizabeth by-election:
With no easily certifiable winner and throngs of voters who shunned the polls, the Elizabeth by-election has revealed voter discontent and, at this juncture, shown-up both the FNM and the PLP as poor political salesmen.
The Elizabeth by-election, featuring a virtual tie, ensuing recounts, hordes of lawyers and the possibility of an election court challenge, appears to have been the most contentious by-election campaign in recent history and has caused a political circus in that constituency.
The by-election was a nail-biter, initially yielding a razor-thin margin of victory for the FNM’s candidate and a thoroughly inconclusive outcome.
via The Tribune.
No offense, Adrian, but “poor political salesmen”? I don’t think so. More like irrelevant, condescending, cowardly, and out of touch. How can you sell the vision you don’t have? How can you represent a people you don’t respect? How can you expect greatness out of a people when your supporters behave like hooligans and you are too afraid to correct them?
Neither major party has outlined any clear position on governance and their concepts of the Bahamian future are mired firmly in the past. Neither major party seems to think enough of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and its citizenry to demand standards of behaviour that showcase the parties and the nation at their best, preferring apparently to reinforce and reward our worst. Neither major party has shown the courage it needs to correct the clear failures inherent in our system (like our outdated, bloated, inefficient and misnamed “civil service”, our overreliance on tourism and foreign investment at the expense of real investment in the Bahamian citizenry, or our crucial need to address and rethink the question of (im)migration in The Bahamas, or the overpopulation and underrepresentation of our capital city at the expense of the entire country). Both seem to believe that ad hominem attacks on their rivals, bombast and one-upmanship will satisfy the people they are sworn to serve. Neither seems to have cottoned on to the fact that Bahamian people want, and expect, far more.
The BDM has gained some loyalty but is not much better when it comes to vision. Rodney Moncur for the Workers Party is as he always was: radical, irreverent, interesting, but ultimately divisive. The NDP may prove to be an exciting new force, especially with its bid for more direct democracy with regard to parliamentary representation, but cautious (or jaded) voters will demand more before they throw their full support behind them.
What the by-election suggests to me is that the time is ripe for people of conscience and conviction to take a chance and stand up as true representatives of the Bahamian people — that committed independents and new parties may well be a force to reckon with in the coming General Election, that anything is possible in this post-Obama world, that yes, we can reaches beyond the US borders.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Nicolette:
I agree with much of what you say, but, what is a “true representatives of the Bahamian people”?
Rick
Someone who takes the interests of the ordinary citizens to the seat of parliament, and not the interests of a political party and its cronies. Someone who takes the role of lawmaker seriously and will advocate for the people he or she represents as opposed to cutting deals, achieving political one-upmanship, or rewarding longtime supporters. Someone who serves rather than bribes.
Oh, and someone who will not sacrifice what is right for what is expedient. Perhaps that’s the most important one of all.
And how does that relate to the Constitution when we have so many different “ordinary citizens” in each constituency?
???
Are you suggesting that the Constitution is fundamentally anti-democratic in some way? Or that democracy only works when there is some sort of similarity between the people involved? Not sure what you mean by this question, but if you’re suggesting that the Constitution does not in some way permit direct representation in Parliament, then perhaps it’s time for us to amend the Constitution — drastically.
Perhaps it’s time for us to know what’s in it first, though. For people who have never read it, (this isn’t directed at you, Rick!) click here (Government of Bahamas official site, with disclaimer), or go here (Georgetown University’s repository of international constitutions, without disclaimer).
Who’s asking the questions here Nico? :0)
My point is the Constitution is not a document that empowers the political class to represent me over you or vice versa. It is to guarantee certain freedoms and protections for everyone.
So how can an MP represent the “ordinary citizen” differently than they can represent any other person as outlined by our country’s founding document.
This is the fallacy of politics in my view.
A representative must and logically can only pursue “what is good for the society”. The pursuit of individual goals, particularly at the expense of the greater good is obviously counter productive and what may be at the heart of many of our current problems. Man has survived and progressed because of social interdependance. So the ordinary citizen as you put it is all of us but none of us individually.
The fallacy is realised when politicians convince citizens that they will champion their cause, even individually, when the reality is the only cause he champions is his own.The reality is also that we as individually can best champion our own causes. The most effective role of the politician/leader is to lay a consistent foundation from which we all benefit.
We have spoken of this before Nico, I agree with you but also, perhaps the political class as it were is a true representation of Bahamians.
Rule of law, and Constitution have been supplanted by “power assumed”
Tribalism at its worst and in direct conflict with our Constitution esp. in practice. By tribalism I mean “rule by allegiance to personality”
Some are waking up no doubt, but,as you say “yes we can” my mother would say
“we bloody well better”
Otherwise, we go nowhere but down.
To paraphrase Dr. Don Boudreaux over at http://www.cafehayek.com a politicians overwhelming object is not to help their public deal with reality but, rather, to escape it.
My questions to all of you is ? Where do you see the political atmosphere in the Bahamas in the next five year.Is there a majority of Bahamian who want a new political party or drastic change to the current quagmire? What is it going to take or happen for this mindset to occur. And are you going to be “independence” in your thinking & actions for this growth to happen ??
The utopia you talk about Nico is there any countries in the region that we can look to as a yard-stick ?
Five years is precious little time in societal life and politics. We probably will not see any significant change until the current crop of key players fade from the scene due to age and death. Unfortunately this does not bode well for our immediate future. We will probably see the same tired games being played for another ten years or so. The positive side of this will be that the people, having made quantum ideological leaps beyond the politicians and so utterly tired of the old games will reject all those with the same political agenda and modus operandi. This could be our moment of change.
I don’t agree. The fact is that we don’t need a majority of Bahamians to make a third party viable. All we need is enough of a consolidated minority — or an independent minority — to make the strengths of the Westminster parliamentary system work for us.
For instance, in Canada, the French-speaking minority bears far more influence on the whole of Canadian politics than its size and location might suggest because of the way Westminster works. For years the Bloc Quebecois has been a decisive force in federal government policy because the Big Three in Canadian politics — the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals, and the National Democratic Party — all have pretty stable constituencies, but not one of them has a real majority. This is fundamentally unlike the bipartisan model that US politics has to struggle with; small shifts in population and in public sentiment can result in big shifts in the Canadian political landscape. There is no majority in Canadian federal politics.
This is the same in The Bahamas. There is no majority in either the FNM or the PLP; both receive less than 50% of the popular vote. True, they receive over 45% of the popular vote, which makes them both important players, but the “swing vote” portion of the population has been growing since 1997. (For a fuller analysis, see Larry Smith’s review of the Elizabeth by-election.) It is this group of people — a tiny minority in real terms, but a major force in national politics — which makes the difference in electing governments. And it’s this group of people whose actions in Elizabeth are worth watching.
This is why I’m optimistic. Those of us who are fed up with the normal state of affairs may not be the majority of Bahamian voters — but the good news is we don’t have to be. The larger that group becomes, the more influence we have. A mere 5% of the popular vote, given the almost-equal support garnered by the FNM and the PLP, will make all the difference in the world. So I am optimistic, and I think the time is right to be so.