Old-style PLP politics clearly designed to instill fear in the minds of voters that there are some foreign or white elements poised to take control of the country with an anti-PLP vote has been introduced into the 2017 general election campaign by Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell.
Mitchell did so when he addressed a political event in Marathon on Saturday night.
More than anything, it portrayed a certain level of desperation in the PLP, which faces widespread discontent from voters turned off by their government.
In one statement, Mitchell conjured up images of our pre-majority rule past. He also branded ousted Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian as a revenge-thirsty schemer, and hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon as being out to destroy the Progressive Liberal Party.
Mitchell urged voters to beware.
He warned them to reject the purported infiltration of these men in Bahamian politics, and to guard against turning The Bahamas over to them for their own reported selfish motives.
But interestingly, there was no mention of Peter Nygard, the wealthy and controversial Lyford Cay resident, who clearly views the PLP as being in his pocket, and who insulted our nation's leaders in tape recordings that went viral last year.
While speaking about who is out to control The Bahamas, Mitchell ought to have reminded the crowd how Nygard infamously declared on the night of the 2012 general election, "Yes. We got our country back!"
Is Nygard seeking to "keep our country"? Is he seeking to help the PLP stay in power?
Whom really should we fear, if there is anyone to fear at all?
Why is fear still in the bag of PLP tricks in 2017 with a more enlightened electorate?
We have been hearing very little of the issues, very little of the PLP's record as the election nears.
What Mitchell and some of his colleagues have been doing is playing on the emotions of voters, seeking to tap into any unease that may exist about the foreign element in our midst.
This is the same Mitchell who asked Bahamians to guard against xenophobia as the FNM accused the Christie administration of allowing the Chinese too much control of the Bahamian economy and influence over the actions of the Bahamian government.
Speaking of these men he suggested do not have the interests of Bahamians at heart, Mitchell told the crowd: "The Free National Movement (FNM) has some people who are representing some rich billionaires overseas.
"This is a party that has three people who used to work for Sarkis Izmirlian.
"This is a multi-millionaire who failed at Baha Mar. He's bitter. He's angry but he's got people who used to work for him who are now FNM candidates.
"The question is, if they are elected to office, will they represent the people of The Bahamas or will they be representing Sarkis Izmirlian?
"I want you to think about that and tell that to all your friends as you go door to door.
"Secondly, we have a very rich billionaire who is disgruntled with The Bahamas government and in fact hates the PLP. He's worth $24 billion.
"He funded an organization in this country called Save The Bays.
"We found out, your representative (Jerome Fitzgerald) told the House of Assembly, that $8 million passed through their accounts to fight the Progressive Liberal Party.
"When we found out, we found out that $15 million was coming, so we blew the whistle.
"Today...they've got two people that are connected with them running for the House of Assembly. They are FNM candidates.
"The question is, if the FNM is elected to office, will they be running for and representing Louis Bacon and Save The Bays or will they be representing the Bahamian people?
"That is the question you have to ask the Free National Movement."
Mitchell then suggested that Brent Symonette, the former deputy prime minister who is once again the FNM's candidate for St. Anne's, also does not have the interests of the Bahamian people at heart.
Mitchell claimed that Symonette used Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner in an attempt to get rid of Dr. Hubert Minnis as leader of the FNM.
"And then, when he led her down that garden path, he abandoned her and stuck with the FNM," Mitchell said.
"The question is, why did that happen? We believe it is because he wants to succeed his father as premier and then prime minister of The Bahamas.
"So what he has done is gotten rid of Loretta Butler-Turner out of the FNM and set it up so he could take over the FNM if the FNM comes to office, and worse, if they lose.
"The question, whose interests is Brent Symonette going to be serving? Will he be serving the interests of the Bahamian people?
"Now they tell us don't worry about this because they say Brent Symonette has no interest in taking over the FNM.
"Well, if you believe that, you believe there's a man in the moon."
Mitchell also reminded the crowd that Symonette's net worth is $60 million.
We imagine that few people would be surprised if Symonette makes a bid for leadership of the FNM down the road.
He told us last year that he was still interested, but denied more recently that his decision to re-enter frontline politics has anything to do with a desire to be leader.
That obviously remains to be seen.
Symonette is the son of Sir Roland Symonette, who was premier during the pre-majority rule government that headed a regime that denigrated Bahamians on the basis of race and deprived them of equal opportunity for advancement and full participation in the economy and society.
In the view of Mitchell and the PLP, clearly, Symonette could have no other interests of concern, but the interests of the white and wealthy class in The Bahamas.
Financing
But will this fear tactic being re-employed by the PLP be enough to convince today's electorate to trust the PLP?
That question will be answered come May 10.
Mitchell's statement also raises the long suppressed issue of money in politics.
What we will not know heading into this election and in the period after, is the role wealthy people played in keeping the PLP or any other party financially-flush and stable.
In The Bahamas, there are no rules governing money in politics.
It is laughable to hear PLPs talk of Bacon's and Izmirlian's reported money and alleged influence in this election campaign.
The PLP, if it were interested in controlling how political parties are financed, could have made the issue a priority at some point this term.
We remember in 2007 covering Perry Christie at his first press conference after the FNM defeated the PLP at the polls.
We asked him what he thinks caused his party to lose. Christie -- clearly in denial over the impact the many scandals and bad governance had on the PLP -- said the loss came about because the FNM was better funded.
Christie has expressed an interest in addressing financing and elections, but he clearly has no will to do it.
If there were laws governing the use of money in election campaigns, then perhaps we would know whether Louis Bacon or Sarkis Izmirlian are using their money to try to sway the outcome of the election.
We would also know whether any money has come in from Peter Nygard, who claimed he was a major financier of the PLP's 2012 election campaign and suggested that certain promises were made to him.
In 2013, dangerous perceptions were created with the release of Nygard's "Take back the Bahamas" video, which showed his flamboyant frolicking with government ministers.
In another video, Nygard bizarrely proclaims: "I have been dedicated to this country more than any single person in this whole country. There's testimonial after testimonial."
But the audio tapes that emerged during the controversy surrounding explosive claims last year that Nygard was involved in a plot to murder his neighbor, Bacon, and members of Save The Bays, were damning -- although Nygard denied the claim that he was involved in a criminal conspiracy.
The Bahamas is portrayed in those recordings as being for sale.
Among other things, Nygard says in one of the recordings that Christie "lacks f_______ courage".
A suggestion is also made in the recordings that Christie made certain promises to Nygard relating to land.
"There is no f________ reason why he should take this long...," says Nygard, in discussing the issue of a land lease.
He adds that Christie had been distant because "he was embarrassed about meeting me... He can't face me".
Nygard also says there has been promise after promise.
PLP ministers like Mitchell did not appear to be publicly bothered by Nygard's claims. They did not condemn him, although Christie denied promising Nygard any favors.
PLP ministers are quick to claim that Louis Bacon's funding of Save The Bays is seedy and being done for wicked purposes.
It is easy for a political party to cast its opponents as being under the influence of foreign elements.
It is something the PLP has been doing from the days of Lynden Pindling.
It is not entirely surprising, but wholly insulting that the PLP in 2017 still pulls this card in election campaigns, while ignoring the questionable comments of a controversial character who has repeatedly suggested he is able to control the PLP with his money.
Promoting fear is the kind of political trickery the PLP should retire.
Mitchell knows better, but he plays on the fears of those he thinks are ignorant, which is how the PLP governs.
We want our politicians to campaign on the issues, debate the issues; issues like the national debt, healthcare and crime will continue to have a profound impact on the nation after the election.
Where are the prescriptions and the solutions?
We suspect the impact of this tactic of fear will be far from significant this time around.
Our politics should be maturing to the point where that is not something that is employed by politicians who want the trust of the Bahamian people.
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