The protest march on Black Friday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
DESPITE being denied the use of Rawson and Parliament Squares for a protest on Majority Rule Day in January, We March Bahamas organiser John Bostwick II said yesterday the demonstration “will go on as planned, on the same route as planned” even without the government’s permission.
In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Bostwick II said “there will be no compromise” and the group will “not be deterred by this attempt toward fascist coercion and the abuse of our rights and constitutional freedoms”.
In a post on Facebook, lead organiser Ranard Henfield revealed that “after several weeks of back and forth” the Cabinet Office on Wednesday rejected the group’s application to protest in Rawson and Parliaments Squares because the “event conflicts with another event” already booked for that date.
Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts announced last month that the PLP planned a march to mark the 50th anniversary of Majority Rule.
This latest development is yet another set back for the organisation that planned to protest on Monday, January 9 - the original observance date announced for Majority Rule Day.
However, earlier this month it was announced in Parliament that the holiday would be observed on the actual date of the historic event, Tuesday, January 10.
The change in the public holiday calendar has been perceived by many as an attempt by the government to strike a blow to the success of a second event by We March Bahamas.
Earlier this month Mr Henfield told The Tribune that regardless of when the holiday is, thousands of Bahamians will assemble and “won’t be ignored.”
Yesterday Mr Bostwick II said because of the strong showing of the first march, he believes this latest development is an attempt by the government to “frustrate” the people into giving up.
“Let me make this clear, there has been no cancellation of our plans,” the former Free National Movement (FNM) senator told The Tribune. “There will be no compromise. We had applied for permission to march immediately after the last march in November.
“We indicated that the march would be held on the Majority Rule holiday - at that time it was January 9. We had been given confirmation that the date was available and that there had been no request made for any event made on the same date.
“Ranard had been following up by going there and calling for confirmation (for the new date) and they were noncommittal until today. We are aware that the PLP indicated that they would be marching on the same day. We do not know whether they were approved but they indicated their intent well after we would have made application for the date.”
Mr Bostwick II said the group will reapply and will march “even without permission should it not be forthcoming.”
“This is an attempt to frustrate the constitutional rights of the people and the expressed will and desire of the people,” he said.
“Whatever the date of the holiday we will march. There has been no change in the planned route. We plan to march the same route as last time. It is our belief that Bahamians have the constitutional right to protest, the right of the freedom of assembly and the right to assemble in public places. We intend to exercise our constitutional rights and freedoms for, on behalf of and with the Bahamian people.”
On November 25, We March Bahamas staged a ‘Black Friday’ march to show the government citizens’ frustration over national issues.
Just over a thousand protesters marched from Arawak Cay to Rawson Square singing the Bahamian national anthem and chanting things like “the power of the people is better than the people in power.” A large group also occupied Rawson Square for 12 hours as part of the protest.
In early December, in an attempt to increase pressure on the government, organisers also threatened to initiate a national strike if the prime minister did not give a national address or take steps to meet protest demands.
However, Mr Henfield later walked back on that threat.
Organisers issued a list of 23 non-partisan demands to Prime Minister Perry Christie and several of his Cabinet ministers on November 9, and again on November 22. Mr Christie responded to organisers by letter on November 24, in which he invited leaders to meet with him at his office. However this offer was rejected.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 10 months ago
Crooked Christie remarked that the plebes should be entitled to participate in a funeral procession for their beloved Bahamaland. In fact, Crooked Christie believes it is in the interest of his corrupt government and the PLP that his subjects be allowed to voice their anger and vent their frustrations in peaceful demonstrations and marches, and he encourages his cabinet ministers to make themselves highly visible at such events to further help with the venting process necessary to keep all the plebes calm in the run up to the next general election.
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 10 months ago
War- Bob Marley! Your Chinese made riot gear won't stop the good people of the Bahamas dictator Christie, the people have God O Mighty backing them up! Good will always defeat evil, and your as evil as they come! My Bahamian friends, Hawaii is beautiful, I'll post photos when I can, but for now I'm going to sleep for two days, I am so F-ing jet lagged it isn't funny......Aloha.
TalRussell 7 years, 10 months ago
Comrades! To what tangible purpose after the first protest has this feud with the PLP government served?... Its starting to feels more like harassment with the occupation the Peoples Public Square to me by two Wondering Political Rebels Without A Sustainable Cause......And the media needs stop calling this a "March". .....And, didn't Renard, just announced his retirement from protesting like two weeks back?
licks2 7 years, 10 months ago
This is just what the UBP had become before Sir Milo Butler took the mace to the window and allowed Lynden Pindling to throw it out of the window. . .a dumb and retarded group of greedy low lives that manipulate the government to benefit their own party greed and fears!! This left the people with no other choice than to march with or on them! The PLP has declared war with the Bahamian. . .UBP style. . . I don't think they will like the outcomes. . .
Honestman 7 years, 10 months ago
Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts announced last month that the PLP planned a march to mark the 50th anniversary of Majority Rule.
March? It should be a funeral procession! 50 years of tribal politics and corrupt leaders has sucked the lifeblood out of the country. There is nothing to celebrate but much to weep over.
Regardless 7 years, 10 months ago
John Bostwick is a convicted felon. He should not be anywhere near this!
sealice 7 years, 10 months ago
drink some more plp kool aid
licks2 7 years, 10 months ago
So you forgot that Mr. Bradley Roberts was accused of rape. . .enough said!
Porcupine 7 years, 10 months ago
The bottom line is this. The Bahamas is in dire straights. To make change, which is urgently, urgently needed, we the people must come together on the real issues. Personalities come and go, but if we want sustainable, clear headed change, we must come together.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 10 months ago
Bahamians must stand up to this wicked corrupt PLP regime ......... January 10th 2017 We March Bahamas will be a watershed statement of how kleptocracy has ruined our country (black and white).
The mere fact that the PLP operatives/agents will refuse to license the MRD march is a testament of their FEAR of true democracy in this country ........ but the PLP kleptocracy will fail
sheeprunner12 7 years, 10 months ago
PLP wants to march ............ for what?????? This is a National holiday for a National cause .......... A coalition won Majority Rule, not the PLP ......... That is why We March Bahamas must march for/on behalf of The People
birdiestrachan 7 years, 10 months ago
John Bostwick II says they will march without permission. is he not breaking the law? and has he not been convicted of breaking the law before? I say let they march all in BLACK.
Economist 7 years, 10 months ago
The Government is abusing the law but not giving, what should be a standard approval.
The law was not designed to prevent this type of march but armed and reckless ones.
The last march showed that the real marchers were peaceful though I would not put it past this government (PLP) to insert some trouble makers this time.
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 10 months ago
Go wipe your a$$hole lover's ass with your tongue Birdie, you and Vomit ass are finished!
licks2 7 years, 10 months ago
No. . .it is called revolution. . .take a look into history. . .it is a thing that happens after stupid and despotic governments give the people no choice than to "kick" they behinds out of office by force or non-conforming behaviour. . .walk on them if they get in their way. . .disobey their unfair actions. . .if they follow no laws then so do the people. . .no piece. . .no peace! The beginning of the end for the PLP is just getting larger. . .UBP II has reached its end. . .persons are now willing to not obey our government. . .the first sign that a government has lost its "juice" with the people. . .done, finished, zip, nada. . .a national joke! The PLP has become a national joke that the people don't find funny anymore. . .history has shown that this juncture usually leads to the more militant leaders in a society leading a charge against the government. . .blood shed could follow if this government continues to ignore its people and do foolishness as it has been doing for the past 4 years! This government is walking a fine line with the Bahamian people and a serious up-raising against its uncaring and greedy nonsense in government. . .there are young persons out there who do believe that "killing" can solve problems! I hope that this PLP group will understand that the days when they could rob the people blind and then spit in their faces are over. . .OVA! They are pushing the people's backs against the wall. . .THE PEOPLE ARE DANG ANGRY AND TIRED OF THAT BUNCH OF MISFITS! The government just better call the election and allow the people to "jook they backside up" at the polls rather than continue its crap and cause someone to "flip" and jook them up for real. . .and place such a stain on our otherwise peaceful nation!! The UBP had us to this point in 1967. . .they were smart enough to "release the valve" and allow the people to vote them out before the nation "eat itself" in a bloody revolution!!
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 10 months ago
I can't sleeping knowing the Bahamian people are on the rise, 5000 miles away and I can sense the PLP's fear....lol! The Bahamian people will no longer be egnored, on jan.10th history will be made in the Bahamas! Birdie, did you clean up your lover Christie's $hit from the media's microphone?
John 7 years, 10 months ago
What is needful is lawful ...amen march on Bahamaland!
ohdrap4 7 years, 10 months ago
wear a yellow shirt and wait for the plp to arrive at rawson square. then disrobe and have a black one underneath, or if it is cold, cover the yellow shirt with a black sweater.
BahamaPundit 7 years, 10 months ago
What we need is an honest discussion and to place all the cards on the table face up. If majority rule was so great for us, why is crime, corruption and junk bond status the new normal. Surely, majority rule cannot have been that great if these are its fruits. When the UBP left power, there was apparently a thirty million dollar surplus in the treasury. In my opinion, the problem lies not with majority rule but with independence. Bahamians did not have the capacity for self governance at that stage. What is needed is for the swamp to be drained, much like Turks & Caicos, the Bahamas requires the Queen's oversight to enter and despose with corrupt officials.
Greentea 7 years, 10 months ago
It has nothing to do with the principle of majority rule- that is what democracies are based on- but far more to do with unchecked corruption and piss poor leadership and governance.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 10 months ago
You are about as disingenuous an idiot as they come. Every single Bahamian alive today who is eligible to be registered to vote knows full well that the PLP leadership have always pitched the term "Majority Rule" to mean "Black Rule". Why do you think the "Black Triangle" on the Bahamian flag has always been symbolic of the "Bahamian People" for the PLP leadership? And why do you thing that under both the Pindling and Christie administrations we have had to endure re-run after re-run of the movie "Roots" in the run up to general elections? You need to stop letting others too easily make a fool of you, and at the same time start thinking for yourself.
JohnDoe 7 years, 10 months ago
We don't need any Queen's oversight. Men have fought and died to devolve power from the Queen into your hands to give you freedom and democracy so that you can become the beneficiary of your own destiny. As Lee Kuan Yew once said, "a society needs a certain amount of literacy, moral and ethical values to be able to successfully run a one man one vote system". When are we going to consistently demonstrate such courage, literacy, moral and ethical values. However, instead of taking personal responsibility, at every juncture we try to outsource to the government or the Queen all of those obligations that rightly should be fulfilled by the family. We want every possible government handout and social welfare benefit yet we also want the government to balance the budget. We are always looking for Lynden Pindling or Hubert Ingraham or Perry Christie or anyone but ourselves to save us. We are partly in the mess we are in because we believed the Independence lie that we were feed by these so called nation-builders who are incentivised to continue to tell us what we want to hear for our votes.. The irrational exuberance with which we welcomed Independence gave us permission, a license of sorts to be weak, dependent, unethical and undisciplined. It gave us permission to have a false sense of pride even if that pride was unearned. The solution is not with the Politicians, the government, the Queen or in a marching group of directionless rabble-rousers.
Sickened 7 years, 10 months ago
I agree to an extent. Many of us want the social safety net of food stamps, of not paying property taxes but we still want a balanced budget. Unfortunately, there are now too many of us who have been lazy in both education and in work and now NEED these safety nets, most likely for the rest of their lives. There will always be the unfortunate among us who will rely on government for a period of time, through little fault of their own (i.e. accidents, loss of parents etc.) but we now have a country where, I honestly believe, half of our population have no desire to study hard or work hard and rely on these benefits AND expect others to pony up. This I cannot stand.
JohnDoe 7 years, 10 months ago
The intelligentsia in the Bahamas look into the mirror and mistakenly believe that their status, work ethics and values are representative of the Bahamian people. In this assumption they are gravely mistaken. Let's remember that our national grade average is an E. Those that have been lazy in attitude, education, work ethics and morals are unfortunately the majority. At this point it is not important whether that is good or bad, it just is. You may not want a hand-out but unfortunately they feel entitled to a hand-out. I am a proud Bahamian and therefore, I have no desire to denigrate my fellow Bahamians but we will never correct or change what we first do not acknowledge. What do you think would happen if we had a politician that says that for the next 10 years we all will have to make sacrifices and will lose previously earned benefits. Do you think such a person would have a chance in hell to be elected. Unfortunately, to make some of the structural and systemic changes necessary to put us back on track this may be exactly what is required.
Jetflt 7 years, 10 months ago
This Country doesn't need the queen. Drain the swamp like Trump is doing in the U.S. and for once......for once.......vote in a true leader that wants what's best for the country, it's people, and holds his ministers accountable for results. Wake up Bahamas!!! You've been asleep too long. Get your act together because if you don't, Cuba is on the verge of exploding and guess what happens to the Bahamas when Cuba fully opens now that Castro is dead?? the future of this Country and your future is worth far more than a kalik and chicken snack for Christ sake!!!
Greentea 7 years, 10 months ago
Drain the swamp like Trump? Are you serious? He has ass-embled the richest, dumbest, entitled cabinet in the history of the world. Those people build swamps and they are the alligators that inhabit them. We already have Trump 1 and 2- PGC and the rockin doc. Where we are is where America is going if they don't watch out, with Trump at the wheel. In the words of the good old PLP- Steady as she goes- straight to hell.
NewJersey 7 years, 10 months ago
And what was Trump supposed to do? Appoint LOSERS?? Why do you think these people are millionaires, billionaires and generals? The politicians in most countries can't run an orgy in a brothel. Trumps team is capable of making hard-faced decisions, not quaver at every Chinese company that comes along with money....
Sickened 7 years, 10 months ago
We will need to wait and see on that one. You know his kids will get the first right of refusal on any deals the U.S. makes with anyone. In jest, I see Trump owning the U.S. military in a couple of years.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 10 months ago
Once again, PLEASE THINK AND SPEAK FOR YOURSELF as opposed to simply permitting yourself to be an echo chamber for the vitriolic shallow observations of others - see my earlier reply to you above.
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