It has been 20 years since the Bahamian people reelected a government. That was the great landslide win of the Free National Movement on March 14, 1997. The party won 34 of 40 seats. Later it increased its majority to 35 seats after winning the by-election upon the retirement of Sir Lynden Pindling.
If Dr. Hubert Minnis and the FNM win and defeat the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) on May 10 at the end of its five-year term -- assuming it makes it five
-- we would be at 25 years since a government was reelected.
That period of changing governments every election would match the 25 years of unbroken PLP rule from 1967 to 1992.
Post-colonial leaders such as Sir Lynden became mythic figures to their people. He was considered a "Moses" who led a majority black nation from oppressive minority rule to a fairer representative democracy.
The lack of dissenting voices during those times helped keep the PLP in power. There was no Internet, no social media, and the PLP stifled the growth of independent media. Private broadcast stations were not allowed.
The PLP controlled the minds of its people through the propaganda of the state-controlled Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, better known as ZNS.
By the end of the Pindling years Bahamians were more cynical about politics and politicians. The great leader they revered for so long ultimately let his people down. Sir Lynden's government ended up mired in allegations of drug-related. Elements of the Colombian cartel were operating from our shores with elements of the PLP all tangled up in a shameful web of corruption.
Assuming the PLP will lose this election, a Minnis government should look to the FNM of 1992 for guidance as to what to do to win again. Those FNMs were not afraid to tackle the challenges of those times. We have numerous challenges in these times.
The state electricity provider can't keep the lights on and its rates are too; taxes are too high; government is too big; there is too much waste and in the public service; more investment must be lured, as the economy is not growing and jobs are hard to find; the education system is poor; the New Landfill is regularly on fire; Grand Bahama is in a depression.
Bahamians are angry with Prime Minister Perry Christie because he says things he does not mean and gets little done. He is not a man of focus. He is not a man of discipline. He is man who is now only interested in remaining in power. Our welfare is of little to no interest to him.
The country wants a leader who will try. It wants a leader who will confront our dysfunction with wellthought- out policy. Such a leader will not always be successful. But if the people see a serious-minded person giving his best, who achieves some successes while learning from his mistakes, a leader who is honest and holds his side to that standard, they would be quite minded to return that person and his team to office.
It's healthy that it is difficult to get re-elected. Falling in love with Pindling led to him taking advantage of us for his own self-interest. Pindling damaged The Bahamas as much as he helped it. The drugs that came here during his watch destroyed the Bahamian family.
A generation of children grew up on the streets because their parents were either in jail from selling drugs or strung out from using them. Our crime problem today results significantly from the corruption of the Pindling years.
Politicians must now fight hard to win our trust, and then fight even harder to come back. We are maturing as an electorate. This strengthens our democracy.
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