The Tribune

By GEORGE A SMITH

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” - Henry Ford

“Honesty is the first step to wisdom and truth.”

THE Bahamian people have spoken loudly and unambiguously.

Their verdict was decisive, as was their rejection of the former government. Their voice thundered across the archipelago. Anyone who did not hear them is either deaf or in serious denial.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) secured 37 per cent of the vote, the lowest in the post-independence Bahamas. The Free National Movement (FNM) received 57 per cent of the vote. However, there is good news for the PLP in the FNM results – 54 per cent of the persons who voted FNM did so to be rid of the former government. They want the PLP to return to its original core values and its commitment to ordinary Bahamians. They want the leaders of the party to show humility and to listen to them.

I have previously said that it is my firm belief that the PLP has always been a populist party and hence, the natural party to govern The Bahamas. For most of the last 64 years, the PLP was at the heart of and attuned to the people’s struggles, including the right for all Bahamians to vote, for Majority Rule, for independence, for workers’ rights, for better health care, for educational opportunities, for the aged, for the infirm and most importantly for the youth of our land.

The former government made many mistakes. They ignored sound advice from well-intended persons. They disregarded the views of Bahamian professionals over foreign consultants and they took the voter for granted.

To their credit, the former government achieved many laudable milestones. They advanced programmes for economic growth, national health insurance and border security. They negotiated and facilitated the opening of Baha Mar and the transition of the College of The Bahamas to the University of The Bahamas.

The control of Bahamian air space was negotiated by the former government and during its tenure, great progress was made in sports. All of these are noteworthy accomplishments.

Admittedly the PLP’s brand is injured and we all know why. The party is hurting, but it is not dead. It is down, but it is not out. A noble idea like the PLP, with its rich history and its incomparable legacy, must not be permitted to die. It must recover and continue to do many great things for the benefit of all Bahamians.

It is the responsibility of Philip Davis to take the lead in bringing us together, to heal the wounds, so that we could restructure the party. It falls to him to be the undisputed voice of the party, to articulate a visionary course and to craft a unifying agenda. He must reassure the party’s base that the PLP remains viable and still represents the best hope to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of Bahamians who are too often left behind. He must reach out to those who voted for the FNM just to be rid of the former government.

Philip Davis is expected to restructure and reorganise the PLP to be responsive to the diverse ideas, talents, energy and fully engage our young people.

Since it was a PLP government that established the University of The Bahamas, it would be farsighted to embrace the ideas of the brilliant minds at the university in formulating plans to realise the immense wealth that is contained in and under our 100,000 square miles of sea. I think of the expansion by Bahamians of our fishing industry, the development of the aragonite industry and the realisation of the benefits of our oil deposits. It must be clearly understood that all Bahamians must be shareholders in the entity that owns the aragonite and oil industries.

The PLP must progressively proclaim a message of economic empowerment of the average citizen and clearly demonstrate how such empowerment will be achieved.

I encourage the leader and all PLPs to remain resolute and to stand firm. If we accomplish the work that is necessary, always seeking God’s guidance, we will succeed.

• George Smith is a former Progressive Liberal Party Cabinet minister and former member of Parliament for Exuma. He is one of the surviving delegates of the 1972 London Constitutional Conference.