Dear Editor,
I am beginning to wonder if Prime Minister Perry Christie is even remotely aware of how unpopular he has become in the eyes of thousands of Bahamians, including Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters. His popularity is at an all-time low and it continues to drop.
I was shocked to see a petition calling for an early election posted on Sharon Turner's Facebook page. So far some 461 disgruntled Bahamians have signed the petition. I cannot recall such a thing ever occurring in this country before. Christie is fortunate that an election will not be held until 2017. If an election was held this year, the PLP would have received an old-fashioned tar and feathering at the polls.
Thankfully, the governing party has three-and-a-half years to get its act together. Right now many Bahamians are under the impression that the PLP is only into moneyed people such as Peter Nygard and Craig Flowers. Indeed, it has spent virtually its entire first 14 months in high office fighting tooth and nail for people in the upper echelon of Bahamian society. The small man who lives in the poverty-stricken communities of Bain and Grants Town, Nassau Village, Centreville and Englerston might very well be wondering how he figures in the scheme of things with the current PLP administration. For what it's worth, the small man seems to have been placed on the backburner. The PLP must remember that it is the small man who is mainly responsible for it being in the position it is in today.
The PLP must also remember that it is a minority government. It only secured 48.6 percent of the votes as opposed to the Free National Movement (FNM), the Democratic National Alliance, the Bahamas Constitution Party and independent candidates receiving over 51 percent of the votes cast. While it is the government, no matter how you look at it, the PLP must bear in mind that the majority of Bahamians don't want it managing their affairs. And if we are to make anything of the strong tidal wave of opposition on social media, it means that the opposition to the PLP has swelled significantly in the past 12 months.
Christie is the most polarizing prime minister in the history of this country. He angered the Christian community by attempting to legalize the numbers industry. He also caused quite a furor by pushing for stem cell research. Moreover, rumors of FNMs being unceremoniously sacked from the civil service haven't endeared him to many across the political divide. Christie has become more unpopular than former Prime Ministers Hubert Ingraham and Sir Lynden Pindling.
In my estimation, he is even more unpopular than United Bahamian Party parliamentarians Sir Roland Symonette and Sir Stafford Sands. What can Christie do to reverse this alarming trend? He can begin by governing by consensus, and not just for his inner circle of PLPs. He must remember that every Bahamian has a stake in this country, not just a few PLPs. He must also move swiftly to right the wrongs that his administration has done to hundreds of FNMs since coming to office last May. He must retire many of the senior PLP pensioners his administration has given lucrative jobs to while hundreds of young qualified Bahamians are home twiddling their fingers with nothing to do. Christie must extend an olive branch to his political opponents before the current political situation turns into an explosive powder keg.
- Kevin Evans
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
