The run-up to every Bahamian election in recent memory has featured a list of the failures and missteps of the incumbent party, painstakingly compiled by their enthusiastic rivals, for the consideration of the voting public.
Over the past few election cycles, sitting governments have attracted criticism, not merely for the scandals that occurred on their watch, but also for their failure to release the full details of these incidents to the public.
"Government in the sunshine" was a key election promise of the first Free National Movement (FNM) administration, which in 1992 ended the 25-year stranglehold on power enjoyed by the increasingly overbearing, cabalistic and extremely secretive Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration of the former prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling.
While Bahamians have widely varying opinions on the extent to which the FNM kept this promise, the fact is, true transparency and accountability is an ideal that has continued to elude us as a nation.
A key reason for this has been that while opposition politicians continue to denounce excessive government secrecy and wax lyrical about what they would do differently if elected, once in office they are reluctant to revisit the scandals of the past and provide clarity to the public.
Under the first Christie administration, in office from 2002 to 2007, the FNM decried everything from a mysterious deal to allow Korean fishing boats in Bahamian waters, to fist fights in the Cabinet room, to claims of election fraud on the eve of the vote which saw the PLP ousted. However, once in power, the second Ingraham administration did not cause there to be sufficient disclosure on these issues.
Fighting to regain office in 2012, the PLP had its own list of issues of complaint to parade before the public. These included claims of favorable tax rates for the relative of a senior FNM official, a highly questionable helicopter ride and a very strange contract signed by the Ministry of Tourism, which led to allegations of conflict of interest. Yet, four years after once again taking the reigns of power we have heard nothing from the PLP about these matters.
Today the public finds itself saddled with an administration that emerged in scandal. Clearly, promises of future transparency and accountability are not enough to secure governance in the public interest. That is why, going forward, opposition politicians should make a true commitment to transparency.
They should pledge that, if elected, they will not just behave better than their predecessors; they would also use the public records and confidential files at their disposal to hold those predecessors responsible for their actions and lift the veil from the immediate past so the public can have a clear understanding of what had been done in its name.
The threat of future exposure is the only way to make politicians think twice before becoming embroiled in scandal in the first place. It is the only way to create real change and progress in our ossified political system.
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