The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I cannot adequately express my disappointment with the drivel masquerading as a tribute by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Hubert Minnis, to mark the 53rd anniversary of the enfranchisement of Bahamian women in 1962.

Dr Minnis managed to include in his statement a recognition of the achievement of Bahamian women at the highest levels in government, business and community affairs but betrayed his own “true, true” feeling in his boasts for his pride for women’s “humble ambition to support their families” and for “straw vendors who produced university graduates, single mothers who moulded national leaders and housewives leading charitable organisations and supporting national leaders”.

Someone needs to wake Dr Minnis up and inform him that 53 years after enfranchisement and notwithstanding institutionalised discrimination in our national constitution, Bahamian women are national leaders. Also, many women were accomplished professionals long before they got the vote.

Sadly, 53 years following enfranchisement, this son of a single mother, who both graduated from university and became a medical specialist, still believes that his mother’s lot in life is the rightful lot for Bahamian women. I don’t know too many Bahamian housewives who are leading Bahamian charitable organisations; most if not all, like their male counterparts, are accomplished professionals in their chosen field.

The condescending tone of Dr Minnis’ statement leads me to think that he still believes that “national leader” is synonymous with male. His protestation of pride in the FNM’s record on the advancement of women rings hollow.

He is obviously more comfortable with the PLP position regarding the equality of the sexes in our country – long on talk but very short on action. That will also be why he finds it acceptable to call for bipartisanship on the question of equality for women.

It is most curious and quite revealing that he neglected to mention that though the FNM was formed 20 years after the PLP it was the FNM that first got a woman elected to the House, something you’d think he might want to highlight as leader of the FNM.

For the sake of historical accuracy, it should be noted that women did not gain the right to vote on 25 November 1962, as Dr. Minnis incorrectly states. That right was gained in an Act of Parliament in February 1961 to come into effect 30 June 1962. Women exercised that right for the first time by voting in the general election of 26 November 1962.

Dr Minnis clearly does not appreciate FNM history or understand Bahamian history in any depth.

PROUD BAHAMIAN WOMAN

Nassau,

November 25, 2015.