Bahama Pundit

The Great Mayaguana Land Give-Away!

by Simon

The contribution to the 2010/11 budget debate by the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate was one of the more egregious examples of neo-colonial claptrap by a Bahamian political figure in the nearly four decades after independence.

It merits the Bait and Switch Award.  It would be granted to Senator Allyson Maynard Gibson on behalf of the PLP for using the bait of progressive rhetoric to camouflage a regressive mindset and then switch to reactionary policies. 

From women’s rights to land policy, the once progressive and liberal PLP continues to betray its roots.  It does so while ritually thumping its chest about a legacy it long ago abandoned and now mostly uses as window-dressing.

Forward Never, Backward Ever

by Simon

Last October’s lopsided result in the race for PLP Leader was another defeat for the progressive and reformist elements in the party.  Dr. Bernard Nottage, trounced by Perry Christie, fared significantly worse than many of his supporters predicted.

The party dumped Glenys Hanna Martin as Chair. Fred Mitchell was blacklisted from speaking at the convention.  Now, Alfred Sears, their fellow progressive, is reportedly considering an exit, stage left, from frontline politics.

In addition to being some of the more progressive and reformist members of the PLP, the aforementioned are also among the deepest thinkers in its parliamentary caucus, particularly the House of Assembly.

Electoral Implications of the Budget

by Larry Smith

The opposition PLP thinks bad times have handed them the next election on a platter. Passing the most realistic budget in recent history will do nothing to help the FNM, they say. In fact, they are confident that most Bahamians will blame the government for their economic woes.

The statistics are dismal indeed - a 6 per cent contraction of the economy over the last two years, a 20 per cent fall-off in stopover tourists, a 19 per cent drop in new mortgages, loan arrears of 18 per cent, and a 22 per cent decline in foreign investment - all adding up to well over 14 per cent unemployment.

Perry Christie says the prime minister is "singing a sad story, but without any ideas and without accepting any responsibility for the state we are in. The poor will suffer more with increased taxation and the resultant depressed effect there will be on spending."

Christie says the government's policies are unfairly painful to that legendary "small man" of Bahamian politics. Of course, out of power it's much easier to talk from both sides of your mouth - a skill known as "negative ambiguity". But the PLP's lack of coherence on the budget can be easily demonstrated by looking at recent comments from their top economic advisors.

Electoral Reform in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

All de meat!

In the words of a popular Bahamian song, that's what our 'winner takes all' electoral system boils down to, critics say.

In fact, Forbes Burnham, the late but not missed president of Guyana, argued that state resources should be used to maintain power at all costs. Any incumbent losing an election would be "negligent" in this view.

Recently, I looked at the inconclusive British general election of May 6 in the context of Bahamian third parties and electoral reform. That article prompted a response from Dr Dexter Johnson, who has spent years trying to break the mould of our "Westminster export model constitution".

The British Election and Third Parties in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

In 1962, despite polling more votes overall, the PLP actually lost two seats in the 33-seat House of Assembly, while the UBP won 20 and four independents were elected. This surprising result postponed the advent of majority rule by another five years.

Most of the blame for that debacle fell on the way constituency boundaries had been drawn by the UBP - a process condemned as gerrymandering ever since Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts passed a redistricting law in 1812 that grossly favoured his own party.

But there are those who argue that the traditional Westminster system of 'winner takes all' voting developed in Britain during the 19th century is a direct cause of the kind of representative failure that Bahamians faced in 1962. And those arguments carry more weight today following last week's inconclusive British election.

The Two Arthurs & Majority Rule in the Bahamas

By Simon

Eighteen PLPs, a Labour Party member and an independent constituted the parliamentary team who ushered in Majority Rule in 1967.  Eight are still with us: Arthur Hanna, Clifford Darling, Arthur Foulkes, Warren Levarity, Maurice Moore, Loftus Roker, Elwood Donaldson and Edmund Moxey.  Five of these left the PLP. Three remained.

Half or nine of these 18 PLP parliamentarians left the party, including a Dissident Eight.  Eventually, Edmund Moxey also left.  While the PLP remained in power for 25 years, the split among the core political leadership who ushered in Majority Rule came fast and furious.  

And it came faster than that of most majority rule parties in the Commonwealth Caribbean.  Despite an overwhelming parliamentary majority in 1968, the ruptures in that PLP Government came within approximately 24 months.

In 1970, a group of Free PLPs left a party that they concluded was increasingly more preoccupied with power and personalities, and less so with many of the principles and policies which inspired the struggle for Majority Rule.

One of the ironies of modern Bahamian politics is that their departure left an often perceived liberal and progressive PLP, more conservative and reactionary.  It left the party less tolerant of dissent and more prone to crush dissidence in the service of a cult of personality and a sense of an entitlement to rule. 

Twisting the Truth—Politics and Weather in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

The nonsense that has paraded as commentary since the tornado tragedy in Freeport two weeks ago has taken political pantomime to new levels. And this can only make it more difficult to take whatever measures are needed to address any problems that are identified.

Here are the facts as we know them today.

A severe storm front approached Grand Bahama from South Florida in the early morning of March 29. The National Weather Service in Miami issued hail and tornado warnings, and several funnel clouds were spotted in Florida. Although uncommon, meteorologists are aware that tornados occur in the northern Bahamas every few years.

An aviation weather station in Freeport manned by five met officers was operated by the Grand Bahama Airport Company, a division of Hutchison Port Holdings, until the end of last year when it was replaced by an automated weather station augmented by a trained observer.

The Man Who Never Was—An Assessment

by Larry Smith

The Man Who Never Was, published in 1953 by former spy Ewen Montagu, told the story of a successful 1943 British plot to deceive the Germans about the Allied invasion of Sicily.

The war story itself is of no relevance to this column, but in my view the book's title is the perfect epitaph for Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, the Bahamian politician who never achieved his burning ambition to be prime minister.

The Free National Movement - the party that Whitfield founded in 1971 - recently held a series of events on Grand Bahama to commemorate his birthday. So this is as good a time as any to look at the life and legacy of the man whose greatest achievement was to ensure the survival of our multi-party democracy.

Misinterpreting the Elizabeth Poll

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

Much of the analysis of the Elizabeth by-election continues to be plagued by a combustible mix of factual errors, poor analogies, logical missteps and overblown assertions. 

Recently, Philip Galanis detonated a number of these improvised explosive devices in his weekly column in The Nassau Guardian.  In “A Pyrrhic victory”, Mr. Galanis unfortunately indulged in a litany of errors of judgement and logic. 

He suggested that both of the major parties must have felt as if they had experienced a pyrrhic victory in Elizabeth: 

Bye-election Winners and Losers

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

There should be at least two major winners in the Elizabeth constituency bye-election, namely the victorious candidate as well as our democratic system.  There will be losers, including some of the defeated candidates and a number of endlessly recycled ideas that have grown shop worn.

Despite some challenges, we are good at the business of democracy.  We have assimilated its ideals and practices, among them the rituals of generally free and fair elections. 

Bahamians love politics.  From arguing with co-workers to casting our ballots, we thrive on the drama and pure fun of election time.  Because of our size, we see democracy upfront.  The candidates and their agents come to our homes seeking our support.  We get to praise or cuss them out in person.