The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A fringe political party has announced the “indefinite” suspension of its national campaign, with its leader citing the party’s need to “evaluate” its “viability in the campaign for the governance of the nation” in the lead-up to the next general election.

Ali McIntosh, “chief servant leader” of the Bahamas Constitution Party (BCP), said the party’s determination to suspend and withdraw the party’s national campaign is not one of “cowardice” but one that gives the nation “an opportunity to determine whether the voice of a BCP agenda brings value to the table regarding the building of the nation going forward.”

She also said the decision will allow for the BCP to determine if there is sufficient desire among the people for change to a higher standard of leadership and whether or not Bahamians “are indeed ready for a political agenda based on a more accountable system that makes the people responsible for their own political determination.”

Ms McIntosh said this “sabbatical” includes the party’s suspension of all of its national addresses, appearances on radio talk shows, and the issuance of press releases on national issues.

However, she said, all of the party’s candidates will maintain a “limited presence” on the ground in their local constituencies, which will continue until the BCP makes “a full decision to return to the active campaign or make a determination to withdraw fully from the 2017 campaign.”

However, Ms McIntosh seemed to take umbrage at the current political climate in the Bahamas, suggesting that it has hampered the BCP’s attempts to promote its own national campaign.

“It is very important to note that when an agenda is based on a philosophy advocating good governance in the capacity of servant leadership, as the BCP campaign does, it is necessary to have a political system based on the rule of law, and a commitment to stable democratic principles and fair play,” she said in a statement.

“The BCP determination to educate the populace on values necessary for good governance and national leadership seems of little benefit, because the current environment has degenerated, where the people are far more concerned with microwave solutions and fast food nutritional politics,” she added.

She concluded her statement by saying: “This action which we do now take is certainly not one of cowardice, but an exercise in wisdom and preservation for the lives of a worthy battalion, who have been under heavy enemy fire, without back up for a long period. This is by no means the end, but a pause and reflect moment – the reset button.”