The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE United People’s Movement, a merger of the United Democratic Party and The People’s Movement, yesterday launched its official campaign for the 2017 general election with the release of a 21-page synopsis of the party’s vision document.

The plan contains extensive legislative reform proposals and several ideas meant to better Bahamian society.

Released to the press on Wednesday, the UPM’s “Vision Bahamas: taking our country back” document detailed the party’s intentions if elected to public office.

Among some of its key elements, the UPM’s document promises to protect members of the press and strengthen freedom of information legislation.

On December 7, officials from both the United Democratic Party and The People’s Movement announced plans to merge ahead of the 2017 general election.

The new party is led on an interim basis by Marco City MP Gregory Moss, with Bahamas Public Services Union President and People’s Movement political chair, John Pinder serving as the interim deputy leader.

The UPM said it is committed to not withholding any information from the Bahamian people except in the interest of national security and with respect to Cabinet deliberations and private proprietary rights.

Party officials said they intend to enact a FOIA in line with the model FOI Bill produced by the Commonwealth Secretariat and approved by the Commonwealth Law Minsters since 1999.

The UPM will also look to introduce anti-corruption legislation, strengthen press freedoms and freedoms of expression.

“We regard the freedom of the press as being an integral part of the democratic fabric of our nation.

“While we lament the partisan politics that is far too often reflected in the reporting of various segments of our press, we nonetheless regard it as being essential to protect the press to report on matters of public interest involving public officials with a wide latitude in the writing or rendering of such reports under the firm belief that the sanitising effect of public scrutiny and public commentary far outweighs any hurt feelings that might result from honest comments by the press not otherwise predicated by malice on matters of public interest.

“We greatly deprecate the specter of artists and radio broadcasters being detained and questioned by the police as a result of their critical comments concerning politicians and regard such conduct as being an unconstitutional infringement of our constitutional right of freedom of expression, a threat to our democracy and an affront to our common standing as citizens of this great commonwealth.

“We will enact legislation to protect the press, including radio broadcasters, in their honest commentaries - meaning commentaries believed by them to be honest - on matters of public interest.

“We will also enact legislation to protect the constitutional right of freedom of expression of our citizens in the arts and on matters of public interest.”

The document notes that the UPM will seek to introduce term limits for the post of prime minister and make the judiciary more independent.

The party said while it recognises recent efforts by the judiciary to protect private citizens from the might of the executive arm of the state, more still has to be done to ensure that members of the judiciary be shielded from influence by the government.

“We believe that it is essential that the power of the prime minister to appoint the chief justice and to appoint the members of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission who appoint and promote other judges, must be terminated.

“While we cannot effect the termination of those powers of the prime minister without constitutional reform, we commit as a party that those powers will not be acted upon by any prime minister of our party without prior consultation with the president of the Bahamas Bar Association and the various Queen’s Counsel who shall be asked to provide written advice to the prime minister asked to (make) those appointments.”

With respect to parliamentary independence, the UPM said it is determined that the greatest impediments in all three previous governments has been that the majority of any Cabinet are members of Parliament and therefore view the proceeding of the House and Senate as a rubber stamps to what transpires around a Cabinet table.

To that end, the UPM is committed to having a Cabinet of 15 members and shall not utilise the appointment of members of Parliament and senators as ministers of state or Parliamentary Secretaries as a means of rewarding “favoured members of Parliament and senators.”

“Instead we commit to increasing the salaries of members of Parliament and senators to the levels of their counterparts in the judiciary and the executive once we have successfully introduced income tax upon the rich - with an appreciable consequential increase in tax revenue - and tax relief and jobs to the middle and working class.

“Our further views on the independence of the judiciary are listed below under the heading of constitutional reform.

“Pending constitutional reform, we believe that the budget of the legislature, once approved by the House and the Senate, must be under the direction and control of the speaker of the house and shall act to ensure that the budget of the House and Senate are under the direction and control of the speaker.”

Additionally, the UPM will look to enact the necessary legislation to bring about fiscal accountability and transparency in government, generate sustainable capitalism, create an immigration side of the Supreme Court, constitutional reform, tax reform and tax relief.

The UPM said it believes that the greatest fiscal challenge to the Bahamas is not a lack of revenue collection, but wastage and corruption by the government in the spending of money that has been collected.

The party proposed that there are three main areas of wastage and corruption that must be eliminated and commit to address those areas.

“First, we regard it as being indefensible and untenable that ministers of government and members of Parliament can be involved in the procurement of government contracts whether directly or through the means of third parties or corporate structures.

“The leasing of buildings, procurement of government contracts, procurement of private contracts with third parties who receive concessions or benefits from the government and other means by which members of Parliament procure, directly or indirectly, private benefits from government contracts or as rewards for third parties procuring government contracts or concessions must be made illegal and must be prosecuted.

“Secondly, we regard it as being unacceptable that the procurement of government contracts is not a transparent process that is open to all Bahamians.

“The practice by all three previous governments of the Bahamas of ‘inviting tenders’ from specified individuals and companies is nothing short of a predetermination by those politicians of who will be awarded those contracts - with the purported ‘losers’ invariably participating in the contract as sub-contractors under the ‘winner’ - with no real competitive bidding and at resulting inflated costs to the people of The Bahamas.

“Thirdly, we regard it as unacceptable that the government of the Bahamas is engaged in renting so many offices, buildings and residences throughout the Bahamas. We regard it as being particularly egregious where such rentals have been effected with sitting Cabinet ministers or with their families or family structures and commit to bringing those contracts to an end.

“We commit to inviting the auditor general to present a report to Parliament on all rental contracts in which the government is presently engaged, including the names of the landlords, the period for which the rental has been going on, the remaining period of the rental, the cost of the rental and the competitive bidding process - if any - which was undertaken for the procurement of the rental premises.”

Further to these plans, the party has proposed “true” mortgage and banking relief, sweeping education reform with enhancements to public education, tertiary education and technical vocational education sectors in the country; access to internet and development of a university in Andros.

The party’s vision document is split into two halves, with the second segment proposed to be released in the coming months.