The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

Black Friday was a wonderful day for democracy in the Bahamas.

The march was a gathering of Bahamians who - individually and collectively - found their voices and peacefully expressed themselves in a resounding crescendo of dissent.

I basked in the midst of the black shirts assembled in Rawson Square, donned in my all black suit and proud that Bahamians were finally returning to our ways of protesting political shortcomings and injustices and saying enough is enough.

Bahamians are tired of our governance being a revolving door between insincere Free National Movement (FNM) and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) politicians. The most sincere among the marchers - and I’m not talking about politicians - yearn to see an overturning of the political applecart, yearn to see a blowing up of the status quo. The march is the beginning of the Bahamian Arab Spring or, dare I say, the Bahamian Awakening.

During the Arab Spring, we saw the emergence of people that we had never heard of or seen before. These were people who, previously, had little or no influence but who impelled powerful movements that toppled governments, deposed dictators and radically - whether for good or bad - changed the course of these countries. Ranard Henfield, an attorney who led the organising committee for the march, is one such person. I have read Henfield’s letters to Prime Minister Perry Christie and I think that his demands are all reasonable and are issues of interest for all Bahamians desirous of good governance and real change.

Unfortunately, we might have to have more of these movements as no real political change is on the horizon.

When one compares the 2011 protest against the sale of BTC to the Black Friday March, the BTC protest can be considered the kindergarten version of public protest in terms of size and impact. The video of both protests is online and one can watch for themselves and make a determination. Everyday Bahamians were excited by and pleased with the march. Frankly, the march transcended class, race, ethnicity and traditional political ideology.

Bahamians are frustrated. The governing PLP has steered our country into treacherous seas, without a compass and seemingly without the political will to get our society and economy back on track. On the other hand, the FNM has proven to be the worst Opposition that we have had in an independent Bahamas. The current incarnation of the Opposition is - in large part - the reason why the PLP has been able to operate with impunity, answering to no one and unafraid of a passive, spayed, way-too-old FNM caucus.

In 1997, the PLP won six of 40 seats. The seats were held by Bradley Roberts (Grants Town), Sir Lynden Pindling (South Andros and Mangrove Cay), Perry Christie (Centreville), Bernard Nottage (Kennedy), Phillip Galanis (Englerston) and Cynthia “Mother” Pratt (St Cecilia). At that time, I was a junior/senior high school student in Long Island and I keenly listened to their debates. Though the FNM held 34 of the 40 seats, the six members of the PLP’s caucus proved to be an impressive, formidable Opposition. Bradley Roberts made a name for himself - Big Bad Brad - and as a kid who loved politics and thrilling exchanges in the House of Assembly, I was glued to my radio. If the PLP six could hold the FNM accountable in 1997, then surely the FNM with 10 members ought to have been a more progressive, shuddersome opposition force.

As it stands, it is clear that Bahamians believe that both major political parties are out of touch.

Whilst it is hoped that the outcome of the march would mean that business as usual in the Bahamas is no more, I am not naïve. We would have, as a people, to take a number of actions, whether by protests or litigation, to get the country that we deserve. I’ve found that Bahamian politicians are generally insincere and only concerned with winning their seats, where they sit comfortably for four-and-a-half years, insulting our collective intelligence and pretending to be the kings and queens of our personal and national fortunes.

Interestingly, the Black Friday march attracted politicians from the FNM, PLP and Democratic National Alliance (DNA). The only political grouping that ought to have been at that march - without seeming hypocritical - was the DNA. The DNA does not have a voice in the House of Assembly. No member of the DNA sits around the Cabinet table. Unlike the FNM, the DNA does not head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

It appears that the march was so good that government ministers got caught up in the moment and protested against themselves. I think they were also showing protesters that they did not fear any movement. They marched. Then criticised and dismissed the organisers. Imagine that!

Likewise, the FNM brought their entire slate, led by leader Dr Hubert Minnis. The Opposition shares some degree of complicity for the status quo. Whilst I am less concerned by the presence of Opposition politicians, I have a serious problem with the Opposition leadership’s laying of claim and absurd attempts to take credit for the march.

The Black Friday march was neither conceived promoted, planned or executed by the Official Opposition. The march was truly a populist initiative. With an election on the horizon and a plethora of issues to address, perhaps the Opposition should organise its own march and we can all compare and assess the turn out.

The presence of the Opposition was diminished by the ill-considered decision to arrive and march as a distinctly FNM force. It cheapened the event and confirmed that, at least for some Opposition politicians, this was all about optics and political brownie points. This further demonstrates the belief of many Bahamians that politicians in both major parties are tone deaf.

Why has the PAC not properly accounted for their existence in the House of Assembly? Why march for accountability when one heads a body of the House that ought to investigate and report to the public about government expenditure?

Whilst the DNA will get a pass because of their current political station, the PLP and the FNM must account.

Bahamians are tired of the Opposition’s leadership using the proverbial finger in the wind test, then sounding like Machiavellian opportunists who have salivated all over their index finger/s and, having raised it like a weather vane into the winter wind of the Bahamas to seek directions, going with whatever flow guarantees their erstwhile quest for national leadership. Sometimes, it is difficult to listen to and/or read some of the commentary without some degree of revulsion.

Unfortunately, the Official Opposition has been at the fore of pushing a self-interested agenda that seeks to use the march to trump the governing PLP.

On the other hand, PLP ministers Kenred Dorsett and Jerome Fitzgerald have projected themselves as petty, flip-flopping sectarians who cannot see the forest for the trees, who are unwilling to accept that Friday’s march was a movement of the people and that they should listen to the issues advanced by the organisers. This is notwithstanding the fact that these ministers were “march crashers” who crusaded against themselves!

The inability of the governing PLP to understand that people see the Bahamas in colours other than red or yellow or green shows how disconnected they are.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell’s intolerant voice note should send shivers down the spine of every Bahamian. Ever the hypocrite, it was Fred Mitchell who, along with Michael Sawyer Brown, Dennis Dames, Phillip Miller and Horace Pierre burnt the constitution in December, 1989. Mr Mitchell led and/or participated in many protests during his younger days. He was once held in high regard and understudied by young revolutionaries in the making. He has since been a disappointment, forgetting positions that he purportedly took on principle and emerging as an impervious old man who has clearly become hypnotised by the trappings of political power. Will the real Fred Mitchell please stand up?

Partisan ploys have been on full display in the wake of last Friday’s march. How very sad!

We are sick and tired of self-aggrandising political crusaders.

Comments and responses to ajbahama@hotmail.com