The Tribune

Change is what is needed in the Bahamas and Malcom J Strachan urges voters not to miss their chance to effect it . . .

The Bahamas is at what many believe to be a precipice before we plunge into a dark period of elections.

Successive governments have done much, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Free National Movement, to the growth of our once, burgeoning nation.

It really depends on whose side you ask when trying to figure who is more at fault. However, the fact remains that where we currently stand is at the worst possible crossroads for the average Bahamian.

The PLP campaigned on bringing a better Bahamas and inspired thousands of Bahamians by promising to make us safer and to believe in us. After the PLP won the election, there was an unmistakable aura that pervaded throughout the country that the PLP duped us. Crime continued to rise, as did unemployment, which both eventually setting records in the country.

Government ripened with corruption with millions of dollars going missing from Road Traffic and the Passport Office. Prime Minister Perry Christie promised that they would open Baha Mar and touted that there would be thousands of jobs for Bahamians; directly impacting our economy. He garnered a lot of excitement, as well as apprehension from those that saw the resort as ‘too big not to fail’.

The mega-resort had a charismatic leader in Sarkis Izmirlian, who had inspired thousands of Bahamians, some that returned from abroad, to work at the resort. The developer even reached into the inner-city communities, recruiting Bahamians from all walks of life to dream and cultivate the leader within them all. At the beginning, Izmirlian and Christie seemed to have a great rapport with one another, but there was always the suspicion of how the ‘triangle’ business affair between Christie, the Chinese and Izmirlian would play out. Long story short - Izmirlian is out, the Chinese are in, much to the disdain of some sections of the Bahamian public, and Christie is banking that Baha Mar will save his political future, while he is presently mired in a pile of political failures.

Today, Bahamians generally don’t feel better off. They surely don’t feel safer as criminals have taken our country over, despite our police force doing the best that they can do. And Baha Mar remains a giant question mark. Bahamians are sceptical about who legally owns it, if it will open and if it will be successful or just another Chinese ‘ghost city’.

Many are also wondering why so much confidence is being placed in the construction company that did not deliver a completed hotel and caused multiple opening dates to be missed with the previous developer. At any rate, there is widespread belief that something will be open on April 21. With only a month left before election, the Prime Minister will have to bring a victory to the people. His current resume is not so easy on the eyes so if Baha Mar has to be open with wet paint and leaky faucets, so be it.

Voter apathy

As we enter the silly season, we will be bombarded with the fake smiles and empty promises of multiple candidates, all falling over themselves for our vote.

It’s the one time that Bahamians use the power that we have over our elected officials.

To most of us, we don’t see our lives as being better than they were five years ago. Most of us are struggling to make ends meet. We see that the major issues that our country faces being ignored by those in power. We see the widespread lack of accountability throughout government. We hear promises on top of promises from our Prime Minister; just endless streams of empty rhetoric to the sounds of handclaps from his political ‘yes-men’ and hypnotised supporters.

It could be a lot for first-time voters to take in. To them, the entire affair of lining up to vote could seem like a royal waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth.

They, like all of us, must vote as if our futures hang in the balance - because believe it or not, it does. This election will be unlike any other we have experienced in our lifetimes.

We will get the chance to determine the type of Bahamas that we want, the kind of Bahamas that we will leave to our children, and their children. Do you want a Bahamas for Bahamians, or a Bahamas where only special interest prevails?

Your vote is your individual right of power to affect change in the nation in which one lives. You affect future generations with that single right. To decide not to vote is also a right, as we live in a democratic society, but it is the wrong choice if you want things to get better.

The issue is that when a person doesn’t vote, there is a disconnect between their understanding of how that impacts their future. To decide not to vote, but to desire a higher quality of life in whatever capacity that may be is oxymoronic.

To those going on the beach or those going out to spoil the ballot, you’re not doing anything to help the current situation that we’re presented with. In fact, you’re doing more to hurt it. Any argument to the contrary is silly, at best.

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