Bahama Pundit

Nelson Mandela the Politician

by Simon

The tributes to the character and accomplishments of Nelson Mandela continue to flow even as his failures are assessed.

He famously quipped that he was a sinner who played the part of a saint in public.  Addressing a British Labour Party Conference in his post-presidency he described himself as an unemployed pensioner with a criminal record.

Mandela was wary of efforts to elevate him to pedestals.  He knew all too well his inner struggles and clay feet.

He was not a moral giant because he was different from the rest of us.  He was such a giant because of his capacity for unceasing struggle leading to a certain transcendence over fear, and baser instincts.

His capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness was extraordinary given the personal indignities and deprivations, and the murderous and vicious depravities of the apartheid regime assaulting him and the mass of South Africans.

Why the PLP is losing, but the FNM is not gaining

by Simon

The country is desperately hungry for serious and competent political leadership, especially in light of the bumbling leadership of Prime Minister Perry Christie.  

There is considerable and mounting anger, and severe disappointment with the PLP, not yet halfway through its term.  

Unemployment is higher than during the recent Great Recession and near levels reminiscent of the early 1970s, with the country experiencing some economic fallout as a result of independence combined with the dire effects of a global oil shock.   

The PLP’s 2012 general election message was essentially, “We feel your pain and we’re going to respond promptly to relieve your woes.” 

There was the promise of a First 100 Days plan, 10,000 jobs in the first year, a mortgage relief plan, National Health Insurance, a doubling of the national investment in education, Urban Renewal 2.0 and other crime-fighting measures, et al. 

Christie, the great empathizer, who promised to be a bridge to the future, has governed and acted as a throwback to the past.  He has talked plenty, but delivered precious little.    

You Can't Find Eric Minns in Town

by Larry Smith

Usually, you can’t find songwriter Eric Minns anywhere in Nassau, the town of his birth. So you might legitimately expect him to be either in Freeport or in jail - but you would be wrong.

Minns, now a spritely 83-year-old, actually spends most of his time in the wilds of Ontario - where he has lived since 1950, the last 36 years with his third Canadian wife, Laura, a retired schoolteacher. They visit Nassau every Christmas, and usually drop by my office for a chat.

“We fly back to Canada on New Year’s Eve because nobody is travelling then,” Minns explains with cheerful Canadian logic. “So it’s the best time to get a deal on an airline ticket. Plus, after New Year’s there ain’t nothing happening in Nassau anyway.”

As a cancer survivor, Minns doesn’t do much partying himself these days. But he remembers when he did. At the drop of a hat he will pull out a slew of photo albums to prove it - images of himself hamming it up with the likes of King Eric Gibson, Charles Carter, Hubert Ingraham, Perry Christie and other notables going back decades.

The Question of Judgment in Politics

by Simon

Dr. Hubert Minnis was most fortunate as leaders of the opposition go or, more to the point, come to that top job.  Rarely does one gain such a prize without a contest, as did the MP for Killarney.   

Returning to opposition after being defeated as the government in the 2013 Australian general election, the Labour Party set about electing a new leader who would subsequently become leader of the opposition.  

The two-tier process involved voting by rank-and-file members of the party followed by a ballot of the parliamentary party, with both voting blocs equally weighted to determine the winner.

Approximately a year and a half into his second non-consecutive term as prime minister, Bahamians have a generally good sense of the patterns and habits of leadership that will characterize the balance of Perry Christie’s term.

Dr. Minnis has been in post long enough for a general assessment of his leadership of the opposition.  The Leader of the Opposition has shown measurable growth in the office.