As we near the halfway point of this Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) term in office, it would probably come as more of a surprise if for once something actually did happen on time and according to plan.
On Wednesday, Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage, leader of government business in the House of Assembly, announced that the Constitutional Commission is considering whether it should delay the referendum on gender equality to give Bahamians more time to digest the associated educational campaign.
Nottage said he had been "informed" that the commission is considering "whether any adjustment to the current timetable for the constitutional referendum should be recommended having regard to the need to ensure that the electorate is accorded ample time to develop a thorough understanding of the proposed changes in advance of the referendum".
He said an announcement on whether the date will change is expected to be made on or before September 10. On the face of it, this move may be a sensible one.
Several civic groups have asked the government for more time for a proper educational program to be launched. Yet the implicit accusation speaks volumes.
Could a delay not have been avoided if an effective information program was in place from the outset? The fact that this late in the game the government has not yet managed to mount a cogent education campaign is but the latest in a long string of delays, about-faces and outright failures.
Take the earlier referendum on the future of gaming in The Bahamas. This costly exercise too was delayed. Then, when the public voted overwhelmingly against legalizing and regulating web shop gaming, Prime Minister Perry Christie decided not to honor his earlier promise to abide by the results.
More than two years in to its term, the PLP is late on the vast majority of its many ambitious campaign promises. Some of them, like the promise of timely mortgage relief and solutions for the ever-mounting crime problem, must be chalked up as outright failures at this point.
Some pledges have descended into downright farce, like the pledge to "buy back" the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), privatized by the previous administration.
After failing to regain an outright majority stake, the government nevertheless put on a show, hailing the new foundation deal as a victory.
Then there are the ongoing electricity woes on New Providence, where a summer that has seen the highest number of widespread outages in recent memory began with the statement by Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) Executive Chairman Leslie Miller that he and his team saw no reason to expect any service interruptions.
The announcement of a possible delay in the constitutional referendum is part of a consistent pattern of poor planning, bad execution and a general failure to deliver.
If the prime minister and his colleagues don't do something to reverse this trend now, "lack of credibility" will be the phrase that defines their time in office.
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