Dear Editor,
I believe that the Ingraham administration has made a brilliant move in proposing to reduce the number of seats in Parliament from 41 to 38 for the 2012 general elections. I understand that our constitution calls for only 38 seats in the House of Assembly. At one time there were an astonishing 49 seats in that chamber. For a country the size of The Bahamas, that was way too many seats. In fact, I believe that the proposed 38 seats are still too many. I would like to see that number reduced to 21 seats. I believe that the constitution can be amended; it is not infallible. Be that as it may, I am glad that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and the members of the Boundaries Commission have decided to follow the constitution.'
According to the November 17 edition of The Nassau Guardian, three new constituencies will be created in New Providence: Nassau Village, Southern Shores and Tall Pines. According to the same news report, the New Providence constituencies of Blue Hills, Clifton, Kennedy, Englerston and St. Thomas More will all be eliminated. Interestingly, three of these five constituencies are held by Free National Movement (FNM) members of Parliament. Sidney Collie (Blue Hills), Kendall Wright (Clifton) and Kenyatta Gibson (Kennedy) will all be affected by the boundary cuts. No one knows what will happen to the three FNM representatives.
Will the FNM nominate them? It is my belief, though, that Kenyatta Gibson would have lost his Kennedy seat anyway. Remember, Gibson ran under the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) banner in 2002 and in 2007. Despite his challenges between 2002 and 2007 in the Christie administration, he was still able to hold off his FNM challenger, Michael Turnquest, by 264 votes in the 2007 general elections. In the 2002 general elections, however, Gibson pummeled the FNM challenger, Ashley Cargill, by an astounding 999 votes. He resigned from the PLP in January 2008. His move to the FNM in early 2009 has angered many opposition supporters in Kennedy. The PLP was poised to win Kennedy in 2012. I just don't see how Gibson and the FNM could have pulled off a victory in that constituency. Perhaps this can explain why the commission had no qualms recommending the elimination of that seat. As it stands right now, Kennedy is useless to the FNM.
Yet with that being said, I believe that the opposition is in a precarious position with respect to the elimination of Kennedy, a PLP stronghold. Now the leadership of the PLP will have to decide what to do with Dion Smith. He was nominated by the PLP to run in Kennedy. Now, all of a sudden, he has nowhere to run. What will the PLP do with him? Also,what will the PLP do with Leslie Miller, now that Blue Hills has been dropped? Where will Glenys Hanna-Martin run in 2012? She obviously has precedence over Dion Smith and Leslie Miller. She is the daughter of A.D. Hanna, the former governor general and deputy prime minister in Sir Lynden's government. Everybody knows that the PLP looks after its own, especially those who have been towing the party lines for years.
In addition to the many speculations about the political future of the aforementioned PLP politicians, one question that many are probably asking is this: What will now happen to St. Thomas More Member of Parliament, Frank Smith? Of all the official opposition MPs, Smith is perhaps the most vocal opponent of the FNM in the House of Assembly. He is a perennial thorn in the side of the governing party. The deputy leader of the Opposition and member of Parliament for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador, Philip Brave Davis, has expressed concerns about the boundary changes owing to a ''public promise'' made by the prime minister concerning the political future of Frank Smith.
It sounds as if he is suggesting that Prime Minister Ingraham is attempting to get rid of Smith by dropping St. Thomas More. Maybe he is, but then again the prime minister is also eliminating three FNM constituencies in New Providence and one in Grand Bahama. So,what's the point? What is good for the goose is good for the gander. I believe, though, that Smith will run in one of the three new constituencies mentioned above. Remember, his father-in-law is Franklin Wilson, a financial heavyweight in the PLP. I just cannot envisage Frank Smith not running under the PLP banner in 2012.
All in all, I believe that the proposals by the commission are fair. According to The Nassau Guardian, the Ingraham administration is simply attempting to keep the number of voters in every constituency relatively the same. For instance, as of November 14, 96,111 persons had registered to vote in New Providence. When you divide that number by the 23 constituencies, you get 4,178. The Ingraham administration simply wants to bring parity from constituency to constituency in New Providence. Also,we must remember that despite the changes that will be made to the boundaries in New Providence, the FNM government still faces an uphill battle in the 23 constituencies in the upcoming general elections. Boundaries don't vote, people do.
In summation,the leader of the Opposition and member of Parliament for the constituency of Farm Road, Perry Christie, now faces the arduous task of deciding which candidates to run. As it stands right now, there are presently 25 constituencies in New Providence. After the upcoming general election, however, there will only be 23. The leadership of the PLP will now have to tell two of their candidates in New Providence that they will not be running for the party in 2012.
This difficult decision will no doubt hurt the two aspiring politicians. But nonetheless, it is a decision that Perry Christie has to make. He cannot run 25 candidates in New Providence. There will only be 23 seats in New Providence in the upcoming general election. And as I mentioned above, current Opposition members of Parliament Glenys Hanna-Martin and Frank Smith will no doubt be given first precedence over new candidates like Dion Smith and several other new candidates who have been ratified by the opposition.
Yours, etc.,
KEVIN EVANS
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