Dear Editor,
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham recently told The Nassau Guardian that the House of Assembly must be dissolved by May 22 under the constitution. According to the same report in The Nassau Guardian, the election would then be within 90 days. This means that Ingraham could push the election date to June, July or even August, if he so chooses. He would be well within the boundary of the constitution. Therefore, as far as the constitution is concerned, the prime minister has at least five months in which to call an election. But it now appears unlikely that he will take advantage of this extra time.
I am beginning to suspect that the prime minister will call for the election to be held between May 2 and May 22. I cannot envisage the Ingraham administration going beyond the May 23 date.
PLP supporters are already saying that Ingraham is reluctant to name a date for the election because he knows that his party will suffer a crushing defeat at the polls. It cannot be denied that the PLP has plenty momentum on its side. Opposition Leader Perry Christie and Deputy Leader Philip 'Brave' Davis have done a masterful job at convincing many Bahamians who are financially struggling that the policies of the Ingraham administration have made the recession much worse. Whether this argument is true or false is a moot point. The fact of the matter is that when the economy is in a recessionary state and the masses are struggling to eke out a living, it is a high possibility that they will vent out their frustrations against the incumbent government at the polls.
A man who has lost his home to foreclosure will more than likely blame the sitting government for his financial woes. Casting his ballot against that government would be tantamount to taking the opium drug. It will cause him to forget his misery, if only momentarily on election day. This is not to suggest that the FNM government is to blame for the recession, but what does one say to an individual who has been jobless for months, or even years?
My point is this, the prime minister obviously knows that this is not the ideal period to be holding elections. But according to the constitution, an election must be held within five months, come hell or high water. Whatever his apprehensions are, if there are any of course, Ingraham is compelled to call an election very soon. He has no choice. The prime minister, who has won three general elections, in 1992, 1997 and 2007, faces his toughest re-election bid this time around. He has been in the House of Assembly since 1977, and has served as chairman of the PLP under the leadership of his former political mentor, Sir Lynden O. Pindling. Ingraham obviously knows how to win a general election. He was nicknamed the "Delivery Boy" in 1992 by Sir Lynden; and he has delivered three nonconsecutive election victories for the FNM. This is something Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield and Sir Kendall Isaacs were unable to do. But he will now have to convince the Bahamian electorate, thousands of whom are either underemployed or unemployed, to give him another five-year term in office. Furthermore, the prime minister will also have to deal with an unacceptably high crime rate that is gripping the capital, the grossly mismanaged New Providence Road Improvement Project and the Coconut Grove Business League. Ingraham will have to convince the masses that he has what it takes to put this nation back on the right track. Perhaps his greatest challenge will be in Grand Bahama, FNM country, which has been hit hardest by the economic downturn.
In light of all that this nation has endured over the past five years, time is clearly of the essence for the Ingraham administration. In so many ways, today's political climate is eerily similar to the period leading up to the 1992 general election. According to noted historian Michael Craton, the then opposition FNM in 1992 was upset that the Pindling administration did not call for that year's election to be held on or before June 20. The Pindling government insisted that they had until the fifth anniversary of the opening of the existing Parliament, in September 1992.
The House of Assembly was finally dissolved on July 21 and elections were held on Wednesday, August 19. The election date, according to Craton, provoked some of the most heated debates in Parliament. If the prime minister goes beyond the month of May, then all hell will break loose in this country among radical opposition supporters. They will no doubt react in the same manner as the FNM did in 1992.
I saw the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) on the front page of the March 14 edition of The Freeport News, calling for the implementation of a fixed election date. I agree with the DNA wholeheartedly. I don't believe that a country is truly democratic if only one man knows when the election will be held.
The matter of electoral reform should not be a divisive issue. In fact, I don't think that we would need to even hold a referendum concerning this fundamental issue. The overwhelming majority of Bahamians would favor such a move, I think. This matter should be at the top of the list of priorities for whichever party wins the next election.
In summation, Ingraham should throw down the gauntlet and name the election date immediately. Let the chips fall where they may. While I appreciate the fact that the prime minister and the leadership of the FNM might be a bit apprehensive in naming a date at this juncture, holding off until the last possible second will not help their cause at all. What will happen on that day will happen on that day. This country needs to get it over and done with. Besides, the outcome of the general election has already been determined by the Sovereign of the universe.
- Kevin Evans

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian