The Tribune

THE Free National Movement has swept into office in a landslide of historic proportions with a 35-4 seat majority in the House of Assembly.

How it happened will be the subject of analysis for days to come in media and for years to come in classrooms. Decades from now, graduate students at the University of The Bahamas may still be studying the 2017 election.

What happened happened. It is time to move on and the new government must do so with steely determination and uncompromising courage.

As it does so, we cannot overstate the need for an immediate self-imposed, well-publicised austerity programme. The Bahamian people are demanding a show of fiscal responsibility. Individuals know they cannot spend wildly and turn around and bill someone else for what they spent. Why should their government be allowed to do so?

The people, especially the young people, many who voted for the first time, have higher expectations than they have ever had for any government in modern Bahamian history. They will be watching closely.

Bahamians are sick and tired of governments that operate on the principle that they can spend whatever they want, borrow whatever they need and repay by taxing the public for whatever they require. Bahamians are sick and tired of being told they have to swallow more taxes to make up for more extravagances by government.

So when all the celebrations and flag waving and swearing in ceremonies are over and the government settles down, it means every single one of those 35 elected Parliamentarians - and the Senators and other Cabinet members they appoint - should take a deep breath, inhale and tighten their belt until the very last notch they can find is within reach. Settling in must start with government going on a diet of government spending, starting with an immediate freeze on hiring and a temporary halt to international travel except for essential business. While those are small expenses, they send a significant message demonstrating a seriousness people are craving.

There are dozens of steps the new government can take to show they will stop spending like drunken sailors with a bottomless chequebook. To restore confidence in the nation’s finances, they must continue to drum into the public psyche outrage at the reality - a population of fewer than 400,000 saddled with a debt of nearly $7 billion.

With strong, unfaltering voice, the new government must announce the dawn of a new day with new and transparent ways of doing business. Freedom of Information legislation must be among the first priorities. The government must state unequivocally that they understand people will no longer tolerate handshakes behind closed doors or secret deals without consultation and they must, absolutely must, unseal the deal with Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for the sale of Baha Mar.

They must announce a comprehensive review and audit of the public service. They must have the courage to institute a system that rewards innovation and productivity, introducing to the public sector the values that make business successful, including respect for customers. They must show the courage to shrink a public service bloated by election after election and promise after promise. They must say it is possible in a public service to pool resources for combined tasks from reception areas to data entry, from procurement of supplies and provisions to maintenance of premises.

The list of how to get government under control even without addressing the sensitive issue of immigration-related matters is almost endless. But like any business that wants to move forward, it must know where it stands. It is one thing to say the Treasury is broke and another to see where the money is going by creating a spreadsheet of income and expenses including those related to leases, labour costs, operation of government or quasi-government owned corporations, banking fees and more.

The Attorney General will have his hands full. He must show this government is serious about investigations into corruption or court orders and judicial decisions that were ignored in arrogance. He must authorise investigations into secretly or improperly awarded contracts. Where abuse is found, those responsible must be held accountable and punished to the full extent of the law.

Setting the right tone at the start of a new administration is essential. If the tone is what the people want to hear, they will be more forgiving if there is a slight misstep along the way. If the new government starts out wrong, it will be very hard to recover the affection.

This government must be mindful that they were not so much voted in as the former government was voted out. Now is the time to prove they are worthy of the faith placed in them.

Let them begin with an austerity programme, winning plaudits from those who will see they are making a move in the right direction. Yes, money will have to be spent on infrastructure and on promotion later, but first, the mission must be to show the population who turned out in droves to usher in a new day that they did not err. We are concerned that among Dr Minnis’ first statements was about spending money on building a new maternity ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital. We warn him not to follow in the path that came before him paved with promises that turned into pitfalls.

Going on a broad government diet will not be easy. Failing to do so will make it even harder for people who voted the FNM in to retain the feeling of relief and even euphoria they felt on the night of May 10. The diet for a new government that puts The Bahamas back on a road to fiscal responsibility in an atmosphere of transparency will lead to economic recovery - and that could be the recipe for another term.