Newly-released numbers from the market research firm Public Domain show that more than half of the people surveyed who voted for the Free National Movement (FNM) did so not because they were in love with or inspired by Dr. Hubert Minnis and his message of change, but because they thought it was time to throw out the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) after years of corruption and incompetence.
Fifty-four percent of respondents to the survey, conducted one week after the May 10 general election, said they voted FNM to get rid of the corrupt and incompetent PLP; 23 percent voted FNM because they believed Minnis has the best plan for The Bahamas; 22 percent voted FNM because they believed Minnis has the best team to govern The Bahamas.
Six percent of respondents said, "It doesn't make a difference who I vote for. The politicians are all corrupt."
"What this speaks to is this election was largely based on the PLP and was a clear referendum on the PLP ... because people were not saying they were inspired to vote for the FNM, and these are people who voted FNM," said Mwale Rahming, president of Public Domain.
"So, more than half of the people who voted FNM said they voted FNM, not because they wanted to vote FNM, but because they did not want to support the PLP."
While both parties campaigned on having the best team and the best plan for The Bahamas, this was not the main consideration for voters.
Discussing the numbers with National Review, Rahming said there is a message in the numbers for the new government.
"While they (the FNM) have a large majority, they need to understand that they are not necessarily operating with the mandate that they think they are, because even their own supporters are saying, 'I didn't really vote for you; I voted to get rid of the other people', so I think they really need to keep that in mind as they go forward," Rahming said.
"They need to keep the people apprised of what they're doing, keep them involved in their decisions. I guess, loosely translated, it really needs to be the people's time."
Rahming noted that we are a long way from the next election, but he said, "If the number holds, then that's dangerous ground for any political organization to be on."
Admittedly, we were not surprised to hear that most people who voted FNM did so, not primarily because they felt the FNM has the best plan to move The Bahamas forward, but because they were not prepared to take another chance with the PLP, which proved to be bad for The Bahamas.
While the Bahamian people's disgust toward the Christie administration worked in the FNM's favor, the party ought not be confused into thinking this election was about Minnis, his wonderful attributes, his team or their plan.
It was not.
They should work like hell every day to prove to the Bahamian people that they are worthy of what has been handed to them.
They ought not allow power to seep into their bloodstreams and make them cocky, unaccountable and too impatient to listen to the needs and concerns of their masters -- the voters, who are demanding, and rightly so, in the standards they expect their leaders to meet.

Optimism
We pointed out to Rahming that there is a general view that voters do not vote for an opposition party, but really against the incumbent party.
"This is the actual evidence that we are seeing of that," he acknowledged.
"The reason I'm surprised is it's not half of the electorate who voted against. It's half of the people who voted for the FNM who voted against. So half of the people who voted for the winning side said, 'I didn't want to vote for the winning side; I voted to get rid of the other side'."
The last time a party won a second consecutive election in The Bahamas was the FNM in 1997.
In the weeks since the survey was conducted, there has been a sense of impatience among some people who supported the FNM.
Still, Minnis and the FNM enjoy a tremendous amount of goodwill two months into their term. These are early days still.
Respondents to the Public Domain survey were asked which statement best reflects their state of mind as it relates to the general election.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they were optimistic because they know the FNM will make the changes needed to turn The Bahamas around.
Seven percent said they had no expectations, as politicians are all the same; two percent did not care, as they did not plan to stay in The Bahamas much longer; 39 percent said they hope the government engages them directly in developing policies that will improve the country. Another seven percent did not respond.
"This is an extremely high level of optimism," Rahming observed. "...Forty-four percent is a good number of people who are saying 'I have high expectations, and I am optimistic about the future of the country'."
He also said the 39 percent who indicated they want to be engaged in their government is also noteworthy.
These are the people who want to be consulted and who want to be kept aware of everything that's going on, he said.
A lack of transparency was a major issue that doomed the Christie administration's fate. Under Perry Christie, secret government was the order of the day. Christie and the PLP lost focus of what governance is truly about and showed repeated disdain for the electorate.
There were repeated signals to Bahamians that they did not have the right to know what their government was doing on their behalf.
All of this fed damning perceptions about the PLP and resulted in its humiliating loss on May 10.
Minnis and the FNM should learn lessons from the disastrous government that voters recently rejected.
A key one is that Bahamians expect to be engaged in the process of governance; not treated like outcasts or servants by the people they elect to lead.
The new administration would do well to engage the electorate and to explain every step of the way why certain decisions are being made.
Of course, people also need to see and feel that the country is doing better. And that means movement in the economy.
In the recent survey, 32 percent of respondents said the government's single most important priority needs to be economic stimulation and job creation.
Twenty-eight percent said it should be to reduce and prevent crime; 12 percent said to improve the education system to prepare our children for the global workforce; nine percent said to punish corruption amongst political leaders, both former PLP and FNMs caught cheating; three percent said to improve the health system. The remainder pointed to other priorities, including improving the effectiveness of utility entities, like those that produce power and offer telecommunications services.
"A lot of times we confuse what the issues really are in The Bahamas," Rahming said.
"So, if I'm a Bahamian and I get a phone call the week after the election and you ask me what's the thing that's most important to me, I'm not going to think about subjects that don't touch me personally; meaning, I want you find a job for my niece; I want you to find more jobs so there could be less crime and people could have more income.
"Those are the things we tend to, so while lately we've been focusing a lot on the whole notion of corruption, what the people at home sitting around the dinner table are saying is 'that doesn't affect me directly'. I'm not saying I don't think it's important, but we think individually more than we think about society."

Minnis
The survey also has interesting responses as they relate to Minnis directly.
Sixty-five percent of people asked have a favorable opinion of him; five percent have an unfavorable opinion and 30 percent did not know or did not answer.
Asked to name Minnis' biggest strength, four percent said he doesn't have any strengths; 42 percent said they did not know or did not answer; eight percent said his honesty, integrity and humility.
There were small percentages who pointed to his commitment to fight corruption, his ability to attract a good team, etc.
"This was very interesting to me, because generally what it's saying is that people have a favorable view of him; the interesting part here is that almost a third of the population don't know yet," Rahming told National Review.
"So, we're optimistic; we feel good; we think they can make this happen; we want them to consult us, but we don't really know yet, so there is a lot of goodwill happening."
There were also no strong responses to the question of Minnis' biggest weakness. Fifty-five percent of respondents said they did not know or did not answer.
Rahming said many voters do not feel yet that they truly know Minnis.
"The week after he was elected, people viewed him favorably, have an optimistic view of the future and are willing to be engaged in society building," he said.

Respectable number
Six hundred people were surveyed.
Asked to respond to people who might discount the results, as the number represents but a small fraction of the people who voted, Rahming explained, "The number is less important to me, as long as it's over 400 people, than the fact that the people were randomly selected.
"That's the way you make sure that you get a good cross-section of Bahamians, and we make sure that, based on what The Bahamas census tells us, as long as we're seeing the same number of people roughly -- the same number of married people, educated people, the different incomes -- we are comfortable that it is representative of our country."
Rahming noted that in the U.S., polls are done using 1,000 to 1,500 people to represent almost 400 million people, so 600 for The Bahamas is a very respectable number.
Right now, there are no real barriers for the new government as it relates to how it is viewed by the people, he noted.
"But the people are saying that they want to be involved in their governance and they want to be communicated to so that they know what you are doing on a regular basis. And I think the danger is losing that goodwill if you don't appreciate and understand that, while you feel that you've been given a large mandate, half of the people who voted for you did not necessarily vote for you; you have to convert them to your camp," Rahming said.
He noted that governments that want buy-in from the electorate need to understand what the electorate is saying and react.

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