The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Immigration Minister Loftus Roker said he is “shocked and saddened” that international bodies are being brought in to observe the conduct of the upcoming general election when “few countries in the world have an election process more perfect” than The Bahamas.

In a letter to the Editor today, Mr Roker, who served in the Pindling-era, said our nation’s leaders must not have any confidence in Bahamians if they are asking for foreigners to come and do “what our own people have been doing for decades.”

Last month, the government announced that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United States have confirmed that they will send observers to monitor next month’s election.

According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Public Affairs Officer Al Dillette, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organisation of American States (OAS) were also sent invitations and the government expects responses from those groups “in due course”.

The statement came amid concerns about the voting process and after a revelation from Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall that several people have registered twice in the same constituency, an irregularity that was picked up by the department’s computer database.

CARICOM and the Organisation of American States (OAS) were invited by the Ingraham administration to observe the 2012 general election, a first for the country.

Mr Roker noted that Sir Milo Butler and Sir Lynden Pindling “must be turning in their graves when they see how those in charge of our country are fighting to return us back to slavery”.

“Our national leaders seem not to have any confidence in Bahamians,” Mr Roker wrote. “Over the past 50 years, Bahamians have attended and graduated from some of the most renowned institutions of earning in the world. We have Rhodes scholars who graduated from Oxford University, graduates from Cambridge University, London University, Harvard University, University of Paris and others. We have almost 2,000 lawyers, we have doctors, engineers accountant, architects, nurses and teachers to name a few.

“Do you think that first world countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain or the United States would ever agree to have foreigners observing their elections?

“The late Sir Milo Butler and Sir Lynden Pindling must be turning in their graves when they see how those in charge of our country are fighting to return us back to slavery. My friend the Hon A D Hanna must be heartbroken when he sees what is going on.”

He added: “Look at our so-called leaders, who are asking foreigners to come to The Bahamas, to check to see that our election is not stolen: Prime Minister Perry G Christie, Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Hubert Minnis, Loretta Butler-Turner and Mr Branville McCartney. These and others like them are treading a very slippery slope.”

Mr Roker also wrote that “those who seek to undermine our sovereignty are traitors and one day you will pay the price”.

“In 1987, just before the general elections, an organisation in which former (US) President Jimmy Carter was involved, wrote to the Bahamas government informing us that they intended to visit The Bahamas to observe our election process,” he continued. “The Cabinet, headed by Sir Lynden Pindling, decided that this intrusion into our internal affairs would not be tolerated and they were informed accordingly.”

Mr Roker said if a candidate has issues with the election process, he or she may take his complaint to the Election Court.

“This court is made up of judges from the Supreme Court. Few countries in the world have an election process more perfect than ours,” he noted.

Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has called for “international organisations” to chaperone the 2017 general election, as he highlighted a number of “irregularities” that allegedly took place during the gender equality referendum. He has also accused the Progressive Liberal Party of attempting to “steal” next month’s election.

•Letter to the Editor, page 4