The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney yesterday criticised “We March Bahamas” lead organiser Ranard Henfield’s call for Bahamians to “turn their backs to politicians” during Friday’s protest, saying that the ones who will run the country and affect change are politicians and “not nationalists” or “civil activists”.

Mr McCartney, in an interview with The Tribune, said while there is a high level of “dissatisfaction with politicians and with political parties,” it would be pointless to reject politicians wholesale.

Additionally, Mr McCartney said it would be “silly” to lump the DNA into that class of politicians Mr Henfield urged protestors to turn their backs on, as he said, the third party has not had the opportunity to govern. The former Bamboo Town MP said Mr Henfield’s admonitions should be levelled at “those bad politicians” in the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Free National Movement (FNM) who “got us in this mess.”

Last week, after leading hundreds of Bahamians on a “Black Friday” march to Parliament, Mr Henfield cautioned protesters to “turn their back” on politicians when approached by them, charging that they all have “empty promises.”

Then, in a move that has since gone on to encapsulate Friday’s protest, Mr Henfield turned his back on Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller in Rawson Square when it appeared that the former PLP Cabinet minister attempted to address the crowd, demonstrating that the voice of the people no longer valued the “tired and useless words of politicians.”

Mr McCartney, as well as several members of the PLP and the FNM, attended the protest.

“The bottom line is this: the politicians are going to be the ones to run the country, not the nationalists, not the civil activists, it’s going to be the politicians,” Mr McCartney said in response. “So you can’t turn your back on the politicians. You just need to turn your back on those bad politicians who got you there, who got us in this mess. It’s going to be the politician, and only the politician, those who put themselves in the arena, those who put themselves forward, that’s going to be on the ballot box.

“So it’s going to be either the DNA, FNM or PLP who will run this country in the next six months. So you can’t turn your back on them. One of them you’ve got to vote for. One of the leaders of those parties is going to be your prime minister. It’s either going to be a McCartney administration, a Minnis administration, or a Christie administration, or Sears, depending on what happens at (the PLP) convention.

“So you can’t turn your back on a politician. One of them, and one of them leaders, will be the prime minister. So to turn your back, where do you go from there? What do you do? What gets done? Can’t happen.”

Mr McCartney seemed to take umbrage at the suggestion that all politicians are to blame for the country’s current state of affairs, as he asserted that the DNA should be exempt from such criticism.

“You cannot be talking about the DNA’s politicians, because we haven’t been there,” he said. “And to do so would be silly. To say turn your back on all politicians, when those politicians that you’re upset with, they’ve been there, they’ve done that, they’re the ones that got you in this mess. Not the DNA. So it’s really silly to say that and relate that to the DNA’s politicians. I cannot understand that, I don’t subscribe to that, and I don’t think in good consciousness they meant that. And if they did, they’re totally misguided.

He added: “I think there is a level of dissatisfaction with politicians and with political parties, but that’s based in the dissatisfaction of the PLP and the FNM. That in no way can be in response to the DNA. We’ve never had an opportunity to govern. So when they start to say turn your backs on the politicians and that sort of thing, well at the end of the day, we have not been the ones to govern.”

Friday’s protest saw frustrated residents occupy Parliament Square following a march from Arawak Cay. Led by Mr Henfield, it is estimated that more than 1,000 protesters walked down West Bay Street towards Rawson Square, singing the national anthem and chanting.

A smaller group of protestors stayed in Parliament Square until 1am Saturday.