By Jerry Roker
for Bahamas Press
Our politics in The Bahamas has reached such a low standard. Former Members of Parliament must shake their head in disgust at the vile statements by Opposition MPs and the disinformation that propels so much public discussion.
For the record, disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately to deceive. In politics, it is used to undermine support for an opponent or to turn thinking on a public issue.
It can take any number of forms, from the spreading of rumours, to the use of third parties to spread falsehoods, to talking points with sketchy connections to facts.
Does all this sound familiar?
The most recent bullet fired at the PM is that his government has, as a part of the Baha Mar deal, promised to free up on some 500 citizenships for Chinese nationals.
As far as I can tell, this is their playbook; this is their plan — an unrelenting campaign of disinformation and criticism to remove the PLP from office.
It would be satisfying to fire back shot for shot, but to do so would be to play the Opposition’s game, dragging the Government into the gutter with them and to lose the point of 2012, which was our need to pull the country back from the brink of economic disaster by exercising fiscal discipline and rebuilding the conditions for jobs and opportunity.
Sometimes the PLP hits back to counter the disinformation and set the record straight, but we think the people of the Bahamas would rather see the Government working to make things better for them. We’re OK with that because at the end of the day, it’s going to be about accomplishments — jobs and opportunities, recovery and renewal, not political jousting — that will be the difference.
The Bahamas needs less “politics first” and the disinformation that comes with it, and more people working together on a recovery that lifts everyone. That’s the focus of the PLP government.
The Opposition will continue to throw bombs and the Government will knock back what needs knocking back, as long as it doesn’t distract from the people’s business.
