This is your country - have a say

BRITAIN’S most famous son of the 20th century, Winston Churchill, once said: “When men have the habit of liberty, the Press will continue to be the vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary citizen”. Mindful of the wisdom of those words, The Tribune has always sought to try to curb the excesses of politicians in The Bahamas by placing their actions under intense public scrutiny. Indeed, we regard that as an important function of the Fourth Estate.

Since the PLP under the late Lynden Pindling was in power for some 25 years – from the time of majority rule in 1967 until Hubert Ingraham and the FNM broke the mould in the 1992 general election – we have been mistakenly seen as being fundamentally anti-PLP. But our consistent stand over the years against successive PLP governments was because of their attitudes, actions and performance rather than any in-built bias on our part.

Following the failure, in so many respects, of the discredited and scandal-ridden PLP government from 2002-2007, The Tribune fervently hoped that prime minister Christie’s second term would see a change from old attitudes and policies and herald a new era for his party to the benefit of the whole country. When the PLP returned to power at the general election in 2012, it was also an opportunity for him to build a positive legacy as he wound down his long political career.

Sadly, the colours of the so-called new PLP have not changed. After one year in office, the list of failures and scandals is growing – a weakening economy and no coherent plan to deal with debt so that the country has been downgraded by ratings agencies; escalating crime and no concerted action to counter it; a flawed and inefficient judicial system; inadequate public education; the gambling referendum shambles; the NIB scandal; poor handling of the Clifton Bay dispute; the BTC ownership fiasco; the absurd claim that government would create 10,000 new jobs; victimization of FNM supporters and the shortcomings of Urban Renewal; the damaging public debate about immigration; and the list goes on.

With our many daily contacts and calls from the public, we believe that The Tribune has its ear to the ground. It is not being alarmist to say that there is a widespread feeling that this country is in disarray and has become . It appears to have reached a tipping-point where strong and coordinated action by a hitherto supine government is essential in many policy areas - with control of crime being the first and urgent priority, not least in light of the tragic killing last week of an American tourist.

A national revival is needed across the board with particular emphasis also on education and family life, on social discipline and respect for authority and the law – and on a return to decent standards of behaviour in society as a whole.

The nation’s 40th anniversary of independence, which will be celebrated in July, could be viewed as a watershed in our development. Can the politicians put aside their differences and petty rivalries and acknowledge that the country has reached such a low point that cooperation and joint action is needed for the national good?

The Tribune wants to be in the vanguard of a crusade to mend this country’s ills and to bring pressure on the political class to take action. In the lead-up to the independence celebrations, we invite our readers to express their views about the way forward for The Bahamas – in a nutshell, how this country should be run and managed in the coming years.

We anticipate production of an action plan for the government which will be based on a summary of readers’ views.

Meanwhile, we shall publish as many letters as we can in an expanded “letters to the editor” section. We look forward to hearing from a wide cross section of our readership.

Comments

Tarzan says...

Three first steps:

1. Rule of law. The Bahamas needs to make a new commitment to the rule of law, enforced evenhandedly across all of our citizenry. The rule of "party affiliation" in the enforcement of law has got to end. If the laws need to be amended, under our Parliamentary system, the party in majority has the political right and capacity to effect change. The rule of law monitored by a truly independent judiciary, is the essential foundation for any just, democratic society. All serving Prime Ministers must make that basic precondition to a just and free society an absolutely inviolable imperative.

2. Criminal Justice. Every informed citizen of this country, along with every published authority on crime and every senior role player in our criminal justice system, knows that the overwhelming percentage of violent crime in our country is being committed by a very small percentage of our citizenry. This country is in crisis, a crisis that compares to "time of war", and radical measures are justified. The government must enact any and all laws necessary to support legal removal of that small number of violent, repeat offenders from our streets. The police know who they are. Those in the communities besieged by their violent illegal conduct know who they are. Whatever measures are required in terms of new enabling legislation, and whatever law enforcement and judicial infrastructure support is necessary to take that fight to the streets to rid our society of this pernicious minority should be announced as non-partisan priority number one by the leaders of all political parties.

3. Fiscal rationality. The current system of financing necessary government expense via an 18th century, import duty system, is out of step with the rest of the world, our country's treaty obligations, and will demonstrably fail to produce sufficient revenue. The effect is a purely regressive form of taxation, absent the benefits of efficiency of collection, associated with a value added or sales tax regime. Taxation is always controversial, and in a society like ours, where freedom from taxation is viewed as a nearly inalienable right, it is necessary that the various political parties recognize the need to adopt a bipartisan strategy, likely requiring a bipartisan commission's recommendations, to entirely overhaul the country's fiscal structure.

Posted 21 May 2013, 11:09 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

well put ,but will never happen ,do you really expect the PLP to charge through their main voting blocks ,the urban areas and lock up their biggest supporters sons ,remeber these women even voted againts their own rights for equality ,,when the FNM made the sentenceing tougher none other than the new MP of national security under the PLP said he had talked to their families and the sentences were too tough ,,THE plp main support is undereducated mothers of these monsters ,,

Posted 21 May 2013, 4:02 p.m. Suggest removal

Ironvelvet says...

Well written. I often times wonder if the PLP readers are so blinded by their love for their party that they cannot see the wrong that is being done by so many that head the party and in turn the wrong they do to the country and henceforth themselves. Its as though they are just critiquing to win a debate for their team.

Their unreasonable criticisms often times remind me of when the press was not free to report what it wanted and reports were "prescreened" by the gold rush crew.

Posted 21 May 2013, 12:10 p.m. Suggest removal

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