Turbulence in The Bahamas

Sun, Apr 3rd 2016, 11:33 PM

"There is bound to be turbulence in the clouds of confusion before one can view the friendly skies, and an illuminated landing strip."

- T.F. Hodge

I was recently approached by a young Bahamian student, home during spring break from his university studies. He expressed a deep concern about current developments and the direction in which our country is headed. His question to me was: "Is anything working in The Bahamas anymore?"

A similar sentiment was expressed by a senior citizen who lamented that he could not recall any time in our history where there has been so much angst in so many quarters of society. The latter person bemoaned the level of crime and the fear of crime in our community; the high unemployment rate, especially among young Bahamians; the stagnant stalemate that seems to have saturated the Baha Mar saga; the on-again, off-again plans surrounding the implementation of National Health Insurance; and the misinformation and misrepresentations that have punctuated the gender equality national referendum, just to mention a few.

These sentiments are pervasive and represent the level of uncertainty that has consumed the national narrative. Therefore, this week we would like to Consider this... What are some of the recent developments that are causing Bahamians' acutely accelerated angst in our modern Bahamas?

We will review two recent examples that are either characteristic or representative of the anxiety that many now encounter: the daunting prospects for young political leaders and the general malaise that has consumed the national discourse in the Nygard/Bacon spat.

Daunting prospects for young political leadership
Over the last year, three young Parliamentarians who were standard bearers of the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) decided to abandon that political party because they felt that their voices were no longer heard by the organization that catapulted them to Parliament. Not only did they resign from the PLP, two of them switched parties by joining the Official Opposition in Parliament and the third established his own party.

Not since the Dissident Eight who left the PLP in 1971 has the body politic witnessed such a significant defection of members who bolted the political party that was responsible for their ascendency to Parliament.

What does it say for our candidate selection process and the channels of communication within political organizations when three young elected parliamentarians decide to leave the political party whose standard they bore in the last elections? This is even more concerning because these young leaders were among those that the PLP touted as essential pilings on the bridge to the future.

These young leaders, who some would maintain were never fully committed to the PLP, abandoned that party in frustration over what they believed constituted failed, lackluster leadership of their erstwhile political home.

Also, what does it mean for the Free National Movement (FNM) when several of their younger voices, men who actually founded and ran parties of their own and were welcomed into the FNM, are now calling for profound changes in that party's leadership? Some of those same younger voices have already lost faith in the leadership of their new political home.

This chorus of dissent echoes the recalcitrant reservations that have reverberated regarding the lackluster leadership of the Official Opposition.

A major disruption from the essential national agenda
Over the past few weeks, the political leadership of the two major parties has been embroiled in a titillating tempest that is ensconced in claims and counter-claims of criminality based on reports of alleged multi-million dollar payments to gang members who were engaged in activities that supposedly involve plans to destabilize the government.

Allegations have surfaced from some members of an environmental organization that is alleged to be funded by New York hedge fund icon Louis Bacon, that Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard hired two gang members to "commit criminal acts" against those who opposed the further development of Nygard Cay.

What does this sound and fury (signifying very little) revolving around two expatriates and their high priced squabble mean for us, the Bahamian people and how disrupting it is from matters of greater national import and the creation of a more stable and prosperous future for us?

Distraction and deflection
There is no doubt that the Nygard/Bacon controversy has dominated the national discourse over the past few weeks, largely to the detriment of more important national issues that the people would prefer to see aggressively addressed by our leaders.

This controversy has distracted and deflected our leaders' attention from issues that are far more germane to our national development and problem solving. Our leaders should be more focused on putting our people to work, economic empowerment of average Bahamians and a resolution to the Baha Mar crisis which has completely eluded them.

Bahamians are really more concerned and interested in an intelligent discussion of the government's plans for National Health Insurance and a comprehensive debate and education on the merits of a referendum on gender equality.

Our leaders should refocus their efforts on advancing the agenda of the ruling PLP on which it campaigned in 2012, including effective methods with which we can jump-start the economies of Grand Bahama and the other Family Islands.

In short, our leaders should expend their energies in championing the causes for which they were elected and not be distracted or deflected by political minutia of persons who have become embroiled in their self-absorbed feuding antics.

Conclusion
The time has long passed for us to recognize that there is torrential turbulence in our land, where increasingly scores of Bahamians are inundated by mortgage foreclosures and unrelenting uncertainties about their future.

We should readily recount the observation of Norman Ollestad who reminds us that: "There is more to life than just surviving it. Inside each turbulence there is a calm - a sliver of light buried in the darkness."

Even more importantly, we need to become more aware that the world around us is swirling with savage, deadly unrest. Airports and other public places are becoming killing fields, attacked by a movement that, using a religion for its rationale, is bent upon, first, destruction of the world we know, and then its takeover. Our little paradise, although far from the battlefields, is not immune to the effects of this global turbulence.

Now, more than ever, Bahamians should shut out the irrelevant irritations of petulant politicians and meaningless moguls and unite to strengthen this country, internally and externally, to meet the global challenges that are coming closer each day.

The nonsensical nuisances that distract our leaders from their ultimate and urgent goals of securing The Bahamas from becoming caught up in chaos produced by the malevolent maelstrom that is the 21st century should have no place in our daily discourse. We need to come together as never before so that this little country will be strong enough to weather whatever turbulence the future may bring.

o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis and Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

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