The Editor
Bahamas Press
25th September 2021
Dear BP,
Since its inception, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has had as its principal goal the liberation of the Bahamian masses and creating the environment where they can progress and experience self-actualization. These goals were laid out on October 26, 1953, when the party platform stated “The Progressive Liberal Party adopts this platform in the conviction that the destiny of the Bahamian people is to build a country in which every citizen can obtain a higher standard of living in the promise of
greater social and political freedom. “We chart our course under the leadership of the Progressive Liberal Party in the abiding belief that it is dedicated to the service of all Bahamians and not to a privileged few and will prove its superiority over all other parties.”
So, it’s no surprise that the media has launched a fierce attack on the new PLP government. They have questioned the size of the new cabinet; they have said that the PLP will not be able to keep their campaign promises; the 65 % voter turnout was low therefore the PLP mandate is not as comprehensive as we think, cynically ignoring that in Jamaica the voter turnout was also low about 38%; saying dismissively that the five PLP woman cabinet ministers were “ a start” while ignoring the historical fact that this is the largest female cabinet representation in our history. I suspect that this intentional oversight on their part is because these talented, accomplished women can read complicated financial texts and statistics. They assiduously ignore the fact that the country’s National Debt now exceeds its GDP thanks to the reckless financial decisions of its darlings the FNM. They truly want the PLP to fail and upon instructions of its monied benefactors, there is no false, misleading statement that they cannot concoct to achieve this goal.
From all quarters especially the self-appointed financial gurus come advice which makes one wonder where all this sage advice when the FNM was running the country over a financial precipice? And from the former leader of the most dysfunctional political party in our history came this quote “ it is an opportune time to run the country as a business”. Here is what the Harvard Business Review had to say about that sort of thinking. “The idea that government should be run like a business is a popular one with both Republicans and, albeit to a lesser extent, Democrats. But this betrays a basic misunderstanding of the roles of the private and public sector. We should no more want the government to be run like a business
than a business to be run like the government”. So not only is this idea one to be ignored but quickly discarded as the errant nonsense that it is.
In the aftermath of its devasting general election loss do not expect the FNM and its media helpers to change. They have gone all in with their narrative and will push it notwithstanding the facts on the ground. In fact, on 21 August 2021 I wrote this about the many sins of the FNM and I was thinking then on the elections. “But this time it will be different. The FNM have no accomplishments to herald other than a badly
mismanaged response to the Covid-19 pandemic which has led to the hospitalization and deaths of Bahamians many of whom died, alone in tents despite a PHA budget of nearly $300 million per annum.; rampant unemployment; Bahamian despair; decimation of Family Island communities through unwarranted lockdowns and restrictions; the unsound reopening of the economy despite expert medical advice not to; no bid contracts to friends, lovers and benefactors; imposition of a health travel visa regime run by a company intimately known to the FNM hierarchy; incomplete projects for which all funds have apparently been disbursed; demoralization and marginalization of the public service especially our medical
professionals. There is a growing realisation by Bahamians that this government is callous, incompetent and just does not know what it is doing.
Indeed, these incompetents could not even prorogue the House properly” Yet, the FNM and its media enablers and associated scroats, continue to push the narrative that the FNM term in office was a glorious one and that all went well. Even the former PM sticks to this narrative. Alas, the facts are different; the PLP administration has inherited a colossal mess by any standard. In its final death throes, the former administration made decisions and financial commitments which will take all the considerable PLP cabinet brainpower to unpick. Like spoiled, ill-disciplined children denied a toy they sought to make the country ungovernable and wreck it ; all because they could not have it. It’s that old destructive, Bahamian trait “if I can’t have you no one else can have you”.
It thus may come as a surprise to the FNM, its monied benefactors and wicked operatives that the Bahamas belongs to all Bahamians not the few or the persons who have benefitted, some say corrupting during its term in office. But that’s a matter for the legal system to deal with and I am confident that they will albeit, reluctantly ferret out any crooks.
What was needed by Bahamians was to free itself from the FNM Pharaohs and they achieved this by giving the PLP a resounding victory at the polls. With only 10 days in power, it is unreasonable for us to expect all our hopes and dreams to be fulfilled overnight by the new government. But history has told us that all the progress, growth and self-actualization experienced by the Bahamians came under PLP administrations. They did the hard work then and we can depend on them to do it again notwithstanding the many hurdles they will have to navigate.
So, it’s out with the old, incompetent tired, directionless FNM and in with the fresh, focused, competent, caring PLP administration because God knew that we could not take any more of a feckless, cruel and directionless FNM administration.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
