By Malcolm Strachan

IT has been more than a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with possibly less time before the next general election, political parties have been faced with a conundrum. When they would typically be pounding the pavement and filling up parks and town halls across the country, they, too, are at the mercy of the emergency orders – or at least they should be.

With dictates barring the gatherings of large groups, businesses have been shut down, citizens have faced fines and families have had to scale down funerals and weddings to ensure they are within the confines of the dreaded, but perhaps necessary, emergency orders.

And while the general public has learned to live with the abhorred restrictions for the past year, what we’ve witnessed from the ongoing political events has been nothing short of shameful.

Seeing political leaders flout the established protocols has understandably left a bad taste in the mouths of many citizens as we once again are subjected to feeling like second-class citizens in our own country.

People going so far as to make jokes about the fact that if they want to bury a loved one, the family should arrive to the funeral wearing political paraphernalia is not funny at all. Actually, it is downright reprehensible.

Now, as we’ve witnessed another spike in COVID-19 cases, there has been no acknowledgement from the leadership of the PLP or the FNM that the reckless display at campaign events may be further endangering the health and wellbeing of the populace.

As thousands remain out of work, there is not only the threat to public health, but also the vulnerability of the economy if tighter restrictions have to be put back in place.

As the status quo will indicate, you can easily guess who will take the blame and be left to carry the burden. That’s right – you and me – the Bahamian people.

As images of campaign events show large numbers of people donning their party colours, it is unbelievable that political leaders are just now considering how irresponsible these actions may be.

Progressive Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell said the party intends to review its campaign practices in light of comments by Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan.

She said: “Those types of gatherings should not be occurring and certainly individuals have a responsibility to protect themselves and others by not availing themselves of such events be they political, be they a party, be they a gathering of family.”

This should not be news for anyone a year after the pandemic began and we have been living in a state of emergency. And yet, neither the PLP nor the FNM have a sensible explanation for the Bahamian people as to why they are taking such a gamble at this time.

Minister of Health Renward Wells, in defence of the heavily criticised campaigning being done by both parties, offered an excuse about the allowance of groups of 20 individuals being able to gather. This, however, is categorically false and not in line with the measures set out by the competent authority.

Furthermore, the large numbers we can see in images taken of both parties’ events far supersede Wells’ suggestion of 20 individuals being able to gather.

Noting the error in the message being sent by political leaders, though, was his predecessor, former Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands, who said: “We have to be careful that we don’t send the wrong message. And so, everybody who is involved in any type of door-to-door activity not only needs to be mindful of the emergency orders but have to adhere rigidly to them and make sure that they’re not vectors in their own right.

“We have to be able to walk and chew gum, but at the same time, you cannot be a part of the problem. So, large groups are unacceptable, inappropriate.”

It is utterly irresponsible, particularly at this stage, when we are trying to avoid a plunge into a third wave to not be able to resist the temptation to proceed with traditional campaign activities.

Just as the citizenry has been expected and - if we’re frank - forced to live our lives the way we have been for the last year, so too are our politicians expected to refrain from further endangering our prospects of beating this pandemic in the soonest timetable possible.

While we continue to wait on the population to be vaccinated to the point where life can safely return to normal, we want to avoid any more casualties, as any life lost in this pandemic is traumatic for the families left behind.

We are at a pivotal point, and as we see some countries larger than us and far better resourced than we are continue to approach every day soberly as they try to restore their economies and protect their citizens, we must know that now is not the time to forget how high the stakes are.

Life, death and livelihood remain in the balance.

Elections happen every five years and politicians come a dime a dozen. But an abysmal economic state takes years to rebound from, and a life gone is, in fact, gone forever.