Dear Editor,
At the outset, let me state that I am not a supporter of either leader
of the major political parties in The Bahamas at this time. That being
said, I as a Bahamian need to make a statement on the comments made
by our Prime Minister at his party’s by-election rally in Abaco this
past weekend, wherein he told Bahamians there that unless they vote
the way he wants them to, they should not expect to easily get what
they are entitled to as Bahamians - whether that be basic infrastructure,
roads or other needs that Bahamians expect their government to meet
for Bahamians.
Prime Minister Perry Christie is quoted by
the press as saying the following:
“If Hubert Ingraham, or [Hubert] Minnis, if they want something
to happen for you, listen now, I know they want something to happen
for you if not this year, next year or even the year after, but guess
what? Do you know who the prime minister of the Commonwealth of The
Bahamas is? You could go to Hubert. You can go to [Greg] Gomez. You
even could go to Minnis, but then they got to call me. They could have
the best intention in the world. They can pray and [say], ‘Oh God
I want to do this’. But God has spoken. God has made me the prime
minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”
If you are a Bahamian, and a statement like that does not anger you,
no matter who makes the statement, a PLP or FNM prime minister - you
are a lost Bahamian. If a statement like that does not grab your attention
and cause you to decry what it is declaring to Bahamians just like you
and I, you are a lost Bahamian. And if you find pleasure, humour or
right in such a statement, you are not only a lost Bahamian, you are
also a dangerous Bahamian - one who can be easily led blindly down a
path of helping to turn your country into the types of countries in
the Caribbean and region we currently turn up our nose at as though
they and their citizens are inferior to us.
Access to basic infrastructure in a democratic society is a right. If
you never vote in your life, you should have access to basic infrastructure.
Here in The Bahamas, one of the few countries in the world that provides
its people free education from kindergarten to 12th grade, decent schools,
decent housing, opportunities for employment on one's island, etc are
not things Bahamians should be threatened with by their government.
These are what Bahamians expect of and should be provided by their government,
whether that government is PLP or FNM.
When a Bahamian is told by his or her prime minister that they should
expect to have a rough time getting what they should get if they don't
do what he says or what he personally wants, that Bahamian should then
immediately look for his or her passport to see if it still says Commonwealth
of The Bahamas. If that passport still says Bahamas, then that Bahamian
needs to tell his or her Prime Minister to find the nearest country
ruled by a dictatorship and take up residence there, because the public
statements made this weekend in Abaco have no place in a country that
boasts of being a free and democratic country.
Our National Anthem says "See how the world marks the manner of
your bearing."
Well now, the world is marking that our Prime Minister has told thousands
of Bahamians that they must do what he says and what he wants if they
want to enjoy the same rights as other Bahamians in the country. Is
this what we want the world to "mark" of us? Is this now the
"manner of our bearing?" How does that statement differ from
the statements made to their country by leaders such as Fidel Castro,
Robert Mugabe, Bashar Al-Assad (Syria), Hugo Chavez or François Duvalier
(Haiti)?
Do we think that simply because we are named Bahamas, we are better
than other nations even if we do the same wrong they do? What makes
us believe that we are any better than the types of regimes we condemn
when we begin doing the same types of things to our people that those
regimes do to theirs?
Do I or any other Bahamian need to request a meeting with our Prime
Minister so we can present to him a copy of the Constitution of The
Commonwealth of The Bahamas? Sadly, very few things of importance anger
Bahamians, and that is why most Bahamians are watching more and more
of their rights either be encroached upon or taken away, and we are
simply sitting there, not caring, not listening, not checking.
So far in our country we have had three Prime Ministers - Sir Lynden
Pindling, Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie. If such words were to
come out of the mouth of any one of them, they would not be worthy of
the office of Prime Minister. And as we continue on as an independent
nation, if those words come out of the mouth of any future Prime Minister,
he or she is equally not worthy of the office of Prime Minister.
So now as a Bahamian, I ask - to whom shall we appeal, when the leader
of our country is publicly and openly threatening the security of Bahamians,
with scores of Bahamians cheering him on, therefore making themselves
a threat to everyone's national security?
Wake up Bahamas.
Sharon Turner
https://www.facebook.com/
AccordingToMeSDT
