Politicians have a habit of saying whatever will advance their short-term political interests without any concern for how those statements contradict their actions or previous positions.
Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis on Monday called on Prime Minister Perry Christie and his entire Cabinet to resign and call an early general election before the administration "destroys the country", claiming its "record of poor judgment in governance" has placed The Bahamas on a path to "disaster".
Now, Minnis is right for saying that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is not governing well. Only the PLP's diehard supporters think the party is leading the country in the right direction. Minnis, however, should be the last person to be demanding an early election.
Many members of the Free National Movement (FNM) would love an early election in that party. In fact, they tried to push for one at the FNM's last council meeting. Minnis and his faction of the party fought with all they had to block that. After some back and forth, it was agreed that the party would have a convention in the first quarter of 2015.
Rev. Fredrick McAlpine was vocal in his call for a vote now in the FNM.
"Here's my thing, if you're confident in your leadership and in what your leadership team can do, then call a convention," he said, referring to Minnis.
"But don't have us thinking that you are going to do in another year what you have not done in two years."
McAlpine, a former FNM senator, thinks the present style of opposition leadership is not what the country is accustomed to.
"Do not believe - and I want my party to hear this - that the automatic failure of the PLP is an automatic win for the FNM," he said.
The FNM's deputy, Loretta Butler-Turner, and deputy chairman, Dr. Duane Sands, are openly challenging Minnis' authority in the public sphere. Minnis needs to focus on convincing his party that he should remain its leader. He also needs to focus on elections there.
Christie has until 2017 to govern. He loves being prime minister more than anything else. No one or no thing - mortal or divine - will cause him to give up time in the prime minister's chair. Calling on Christie to call an early election is a waste of time.
The beauty of our democracy is that Christie has a finite time as prime minister. The people will soon judge him for all he has done. Because of the PLP's system, Christie will run again as the party's leader if he feels like it. It is Minnis' position that is tenuous.
So rather than calling for votes that will not happen elsewhere, Minnis needs to focus on ensuring a vote happens soon in his party. The opposition leader is the one who needs to convince his people that they should give him a chance to be leader come the next general election.
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