"The tyranny of the minority is infinitely more odious and intolerable and more to be feared than that of the majority."
- Former U.S. President William McKinley

With one week to go before the general election in The Bahamas, we would like to Consider This...is it possible that after the general election on May 7, The Bahamas will be ruled by the tyranny of the minority?
In recent months, there has been easily verifiable and irrefutable evidence that this country is currently ruled by a tyrant, a despot and a dictator. Lest we be accused of political partisanship or personal bias, let's examine the definition of each of those terms to test the veracity of our claims.
The dictionary defines a tyrant as an absolute ruler or an authoritarian person. A dictator is defined as one who rules a country with absolute power and a despot is a tyrant or ruler with absolute powers. Two weeks ago in this column, we addressed the question, "Are we headed for dictatorship?" We presented several unassailable examples then that supported this query.
There are others that we did not mention at that time which also support that premise. For example, the prime minister has himself said that he does not need a deputy leader to replace the current outgoing office holder. Therefore, as we approach the general election, should the prime minister win, Bahamians have no idea who would be in charge of the nation if, God forbid, the chief executive is unable to hold that office for one reason or another. The absence of succession planning is yet another characteristic of the despot, who is one who fails to plan for such an unforeseen eventuality.
In addition, the prime minister has, on more than one occasion, stated that he is "a one man band". We should never forget the dismal fate of those who were led by such a one-man band as in our childhood fable of the Pied Piper.

The opiate of the masses
Therefore, by any objective standard or measure, there is little doubt that the prime minister, more noticeably in recent times, has demonstrated dictatorial and despotic tendencies. These alarming traits, if left unbridled and unchallenged, could undermine the democracy that so many Bahamians, on both sides of the political divide, have fought for so arduously and for so long.
Based on the definitions previously discussed, it is unlikely that any intelligent, free-thinking, sober-minded Bahamian who has not "drunk the red Kool-Aid" and succumbed to the intoxicating and mesmerizing opiate of his absolute control can successfully refute that the prime minister satisfies the definitions of the aforementioned terms. He himself seems to have fully accepted and come to believe his own propaganda as represented in the lyrics of his adopted theme song that was popularized by Tina Turner that he is "simply the best, better than all the rest."
If we are to thwart the designs of tyranny, dictatorship and despotism, we have to recognize the power of the ballot in the upcoming elections. It is widely accepted that the campaign leading up to the May 7 elections has descended to new lows of gutter politics and trench warfare. It is also widely viewed that the elections will be very close, so close in fact that it is extremely difficult to predict the outcome of the elections at this time.

The DNA factor
Given the meteoric ascendency of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), there is a growing and widespread belief that the DNA will, at the very least, be a spoiler in the upcoming elections. This fledgling party could significantly impact the outcome by taking votes away from the two major political parties, something that could result in favor of either party, albeit with razor-thin majorities being polled.
In a recent poll conducted by Public Domain, it is clear that the DNA could be a game changer. Accordingly, Bahamians must not underestimate the fact that a vote for the DNA is actually a vote for the Free National Movement (FNM) to the extent that the DNA could likely have the unintended effect of eroding the support of the majority of Bahamians who clearly do not support the FNM. At last count, the dissenting voice represented 52 percent of the population.
If that 52 percent, as in years past, cast their votes against the FNM by voting for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), the country would have a clear victor. However, now there are two ways for that 52 percent to show their displeasure with the FNM: by casting their vote for the DNA or the PLP, fracturing a clear majority against the FNM into two parts. This would open up the possibility that neither of those two camps would have more votes than the FNM, who, according to this poll, have a minority 38 percent of all voters. Therefore, this minority could, theoretically, once again become the government for all of us.

The theory of unintended consequences
And therefore, the tyranny of the minority could likely result in a government that will most likely be elected by a minority of the voting Bahamian population on May 7. And this applies to the three major parties that are vying for office. This could result in another five years of the autocratic and tyrannical power of the leader of the FNM, raging unchecked and unquestioned by any of his members, because they do not have the courage to stand up and tell him that he is too powerful, or that his bellicose behavior is potentially destructive and detrimental to our democratic process. Fortunately, we have not witnessed this kind of leadership style from the other two political parties.
It is important for Bahamians to ask the question: which one of Hubert Ingraham's 37 candidates or even fewer of his successful candidates or an even smaller Cabinet will dare to check his unbridled power? It is difficult to imagine that any of his colleagues will demonstrate such audacity and courage because they have all witnessed his authoritarian actions before and have been too quiet and too fearful of the consequences of questioning or, even worse, challenging his despotic leadership style.

Conclusion
Bahamians are aware that for the past five years we have been living under a powerfully autocratic leader who was put into power in 2007 by less than 50 percent of the voters, which is probably why so many Bahamians are so unhappy, discouraged and despondent about their aspirations for the future. We have been guided, maneuvered, manipulated and used by that minority to enrich themselves, their cronies and supporters and have been helpless as they have secured their future, just as the Bay Street Boys did.
There is an overwhelmingly compelling reason that we strive to have a majority government and it's a simple matter of mathematics - the more people who are working on the future of a nation, the more ideas in the mix, the better and more democratic the outcome and the better it is for the majority of our citizens, which is not now the reality.
On Election Day therefore, and even more importantly thereafter, it is critically important that we keep uppermost in our minds the admonition of former United States President William McKinley that "the tyranny of the minority is infinitely more odious and intolerable and more to be feared than that of the majority."

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

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian