The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE of Assembly Speaker Dr Kendal Major yesterday forecast that the 2017 general election will be the last time voters will be subjected to a manual registration system, insisting that there was no excuse for the outdated practice.

As he reflected on his parliamentary term, Dr Major also noted that the time had come for a national discussion on setting a fixed date for elections, and house sittings.

Dr Major said the measures he spoke of were “part and parcel” of organised governance, as a guest on local radio talk show “Real Talk Live” with host Carlton Smith.

“Unquestionably,” he said, when asked about the manual registration system, “we need something certainly more modern, something more permanent, and we need to do a much better job of it. I trust within the next Parliament, we will learn from the exercise and take note and I don’t expect to see this again, I think we can do better.”

Dr Major said: “We ought to be computerised in every respect, it ought to be digitised. I think there’s no excuse for us in our country not to move to the next level in registration process. I’m certainly a proponent of it. I trust again we’ve seen the lessons in this.”

He continued: “I think the key is we don’t want the system to be undermined. We will have observers because we usually have observers to watch and monitor the election process. We don’t want the other side, we don’t want the losing side to say that they cheat.

“We want it to be open and fair and transparent, and for that to happen a system of built-in trust and procedures needs to be in place so that we all can be held accountable.

“And so whatever it takes to do that, that’s what needs to be done,” he said.

The Parliamentary Registration Department has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, with critics doubting the department’s capacity to produce a clean register amid claims there are hundreds of reported errors.

Voter registration for the impending election officially ended at 5pm on Monday.

Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall and his department now have 14 to 15 days to comb through the list, a feat that officials say will take the honest “participation of all citizens”.

Prime Minister Perry Christie announced yesterday that the date of the general election is set for May 10.

Parliament was dissolved by Provost Marshall Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade moments before Mr Christie’s announcement, vacating each seat in Parliament.

However, Dr Major explained that he will remain the House speaker until Parliament resumes and a new speaker is appointed.

Speaking to fixed dates for elections, he said: “Absolutely, I think it’s something I’ve been public with my pronouncements before, with respect to even the operation of the speaker in terms of having fixed dates for the House to sit. These are all part and parcel of what I would call a disciplined and a prepared and organized governance, and I believe we are at the stage in our democracy where within the Westminster system we can determine when a fixed date for elections should be held every five years.”

Dr Major said: “You can argue one way or the other for it. Within the Westminster system has some nuances, it has some flexibility to augment either way for the benefit of our people. I think a discussion needs to be had as to exactly what is our best interest, and what the Bahamian people would seek as to our best interest.”