In a parliamentary democracy such as ours, the quality of the respective team of candidates chosen by the major political parties to contest the next general election is of crucial importance.
One of these teams will determine the quality of governance and the direction of The Bahamas in the second decade of the 21st century.  The prelude to the 2012 electoral contest has begun with the consideration and selection of candidates for the House of Assembly.
From among these candidates a new government will be formed including a cabinet with collective responsibility.  In choosing candidates therefore, the major parties have an extraordinary responsibility to select men and women who may prove adept at legislating as well as providing executive leadership.
There are many qualities to be wished for among the candidates in the upcoming election.  Today, we highlight but one of them.  The major parties will want to have on their respective teams a number of men and women who are intellectually curious and creative.
This curiosity includes an interest in the world beyond the latest news presented by the 24-hour cable channels.  It includes a familiarity with history which places today's challenges within a broader perspective. It also includes a substantive rather than surface knowledge of the principles, rationale and workings of our own parliamentary system.
Among the curiosity we would wish to see in more candidates for the House of Assembly is a genuine interest in public policy beyond the clichés and catch phrases often glibly uttered by some of its current members.
We would also wish to see candidates whose curiosity leads them to offering novel ideas on perennial challenges from crime to education to greater Bahamian ownership of our national economy.
This sort of curiosity would help the country to generate innovative and pragmatic responses to challenges which may be turned into opportunities.  Of course, such curiosity and creativity will require candidates who read and are prepared to bring others together to think through the array of issues facing The Bahamas.
As the major parties continue the process of choosing their teams, we urge them to select, among others, candidates who will inspire us with fresh ideas, and who will help to make us think.  Further, we urge them to select among their candidates, men and women who will actually make us more curious.
 

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