Dear Editor,

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party is now 12 months old. It had ambitious plans to take The Bahamas in a new direction and set us on a course to true economic empowerment and governance free of colonial ties and corruption. Its leader Branville McCartney spoke to the old saying by Albert Einstein that if you do the same thing over and over again, then the end result will not change.
On May 7, 2012 the Bahamian people voted for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and even though the PLP did not get the popular vote, it received a landslide victory at the polls. The Free National Movement (FNM) became the opposition and the DNA, while it received over 13,000 votes, was unsuccessful in winning any Parliamentary seats. Even though the DNA made history as the first major political party to field a full slate of candidates, and even though the message of change that was being preached was probably a good direction for the country, the people rejected it at the polls.
It is mind-boggling to me that people are saying that they were pulling for the DNA to do well, but they voted for the PLP or the FNM. I don't consider myself to be a genius, but this argument to me makes no sense at all. That is like saying, I want my child to perform well on his exams but I kept him up watching TV all night before his exams. It just does not add up.
The PLP now has to carry out its mandate and its current term in office may well be the most critical term of governance in recent Bahamian history. Already, Bahamians are heavily criticizing Perry Christie and the PLP for some of their election promises; the education budget being one of them.
The FNM is opposing and commenting on all the PLP's moves so far and rightfully so. Time will tell if it is effective enough, though, to convince the people in five years if the PLP did a good job or not.
The DNA, fresh from its historic campaign at the polls, has not regrouped as yet. Two weeks have already passed and there has been little activity coming from its camp. Its message of change was not accepted by the Bahamian people, but if it is to become a viable entity in 2017 it must continue its work now.
Electoral reform, prime minister term-limits, reducing the powers of the prime minister, jailing corrupt government officials, creating a national consortium agency that would have combined the intelligence of the armed forces, creating an independent body for government procurement and creating an immigration policy are just some of the initiatives proposed by the DNA. But the Bahamian people were not ready for these changes and they voted against the DNA.
There will be new leaders of the PLP and the FNM in 2017. The DNA's status remains to be seen. What is sure to me is that The Bahamas needs change and change will come only if the Bahamian people want it. The PLP government has a mammoth task ahead of it and I implore all Bahamians no matter their political persuasion to support the present government in its effort to bring progress to our country.

- Dehavilland Moss

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