Leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Branville McCartney and Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham have one thing in common on the campaign trail: They both are urging voters not to fall for Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Perry Christie's plea for another chance."He will talk and talk and talk," McCartney told supporters at a street meeting on Carmichael Road on Thursday night.
"In fact, he will talk you to sleep. Don't fall for the great debater. Don't fall for the man, who will give away your prime land to foreigners at record low prices. "Don't fall for that leader who will allow his Cabinet to go unchecked and then allow cabinet members to pillage the treasury." McCartney declared: "The challenge is too great, the moment is too urgent for us to simply do what we have always done." He further claimed that the DNA has tens of thousands of loyal supporters.
Continuing to portray Christie and Ingraham as one, McCartney declared that the Bahamian people suffered bad governance from both Ingraham and Christie administrations. "Do they believe that we have forgotten their bad governance where crime remains completely out of control, education continues to decline, our tourist industry needs help and our economy lacks diversification?" asked McCartney. Forty thousand Bahamians are out of work and thousands are underemployed. The prime minister though says to blame the world. When will Ingraham start to take responsibility for his failed policies? "We have had two major economic downgrades last year.
When will the prime minister start to tell the Bahamian people the truth about the current state of affairs that we are in?We need to diversify our economy now." As he has done previously, McCartney pledged to bring about electoral reform within the first year if his party is successful at the polls. "No more guessing as to when elections will be called. The date will be fixed," he said. "No more guessing as to when a prime minister will retire. He will only be entitled to a maximum of two terms in office." Money in politics "No more wondering about political contributions from special interest groups and unsavory characters. We will ensure that campaign finance reform gives way to making campaign contributions public and these contributions will face the scrutiny of all Bahamians," McCartney pleaded
The issue of campaign finance reform has been raised on and off for years now, with the major political parties expressing support for it. Christie has previously told The Nassau Guardian there is an obvious need for laws to govern funding of political campaigns. In 2006, former Attorney General Paul Adderley said The Bahamas had been"severely influenced"by money in politics for more than 100 years, and it was time somebody did something about it. "We're trying to do something about the influence that rich men can have or try to have over politicians. Don't let us fool around with this one in terms of what we're trying to do," said Adderley, who at the time headed the Christie-appointed Constitutional Review Commission.
Adderley's Commission lost its life under the new administration, but had recommended that Parliament prescribe controls and limits over donations to political parties, candidates and political campaign expenditure to ensure transparency and accountability in local and national elections. The need to reform campaign finances is something that officials from both major political parties seem to agree on. In 2006, former FNM leader and current Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest said, "I believe we ought to begin steps to move toward some sort of campaign finance reform. I think there ought to be some transparency and accountability with respect to how political parties receive funding."
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