"The road to Bahamian independence is a story of the loss of civility and respect for compromise."
(Author's note: The following article was originally written at the request of the Independence Secretariat, which in its infinite wisdom, excluded it from its independence supplement that was published in both major newspapers several days before the observance of our independence celebrations. However, given the long tradition of a free press that has persisted without interruption in this country, the author decided to publish it in a two-part series in this weekly column.)
We observed in part one of this series last week that the past 50 years of Bahamian politics, like the wider society, is a story of the loss of civility and respect for compromise. It is also a saga of failed attempts to restore those two traits, which floundered because of the amazing ambition to attain and hold power and the dismaying disregard for the national well-being.
In this finale of a two-part series, we will continue to Consider This... what has been the practice of Bahamian politics for the years 1973 to 2023?
Last week, we covered the period from independence in 1973 to the waning days of the Progressive Liberal Party's (PLP) 25-year governance, beginning with Majority Rule on January 10, 1967, to August 1992.
Historical 1992 FNM victory
The Free National Movement (FNM) swept the August 19, 1992 general election, winning 32 of the 49 seats to become the government of The Bahamas, turning the PLP out of office after 25 consecutive years.
With its victory, The Bahamas witnessed an era marked by reprisals against many former government ministers.
On December 30, 1992, the new FNM government appointed a commission of inquiry to "Inquire Into the Practices, Procedures, Policies, Systems and Mechanisms, Financial and Otherwise, of Bahamasair Holdings Limited, the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas and The Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation". Once again, the televised proceedings were the talk of the town. The commission's report came out in August 1995.
The deep division between PLP and FNM supporters and leaders deepened further because of the information that the commission was unearthing. It was a challenging time for many affiliated with the PLP in the years following 1992, witnessed by an unprecedented loss of civility and respect for compromise.
Aside from the scandalous testimony that was heard on a daily basis, members of the PLP, in particular, deeply resented the way in which their former leaders and parliamentarians were being treated.
They especially disliked the way in which Sir Lynden Pindling was being stripped of the daily "perks" like a car and driver that he had for the past 25 years. These seemingly minor, petty things resonated deeply with those who had followed him through the '50s, '60s, and '70s as they fought for Majority Rule and independence. The stripping of his privileges - and the raucous, uncivil laughter about it — deepened the divide that would, for some, never be repaired.
As promised, the FNM government reduced the number of parliamentary seats from 49 to 40, and in the March 1997 general election, the FNM won 34 of those seats.
Later that year, after PLP leader and former Prime Minister Pindling resigned from his South Andros seat, the FNM won that seat, also, giving the governing party a total of 36 of 40 seats.
A new century beckons
In September of 2001, the FNM convened a special convention to elect a leader-designate and deputy leader-designate in preparation for the accommodation of Hubert Ingraham's pledge that, following the 2002 general election, he would no longer serve as party leader or prime minister. Tommy Turnquest, then-minister of tourism, was elected leader-designate, and Education Minister Dion Foulkes was chosen as deputy leader-designate.
A general election was held on May 2, 2002, and the FNM, which had served as the government since August 1992, was very soundly defeated, winning only seven of 40 seats, with only a single seat for New Providence.
This election accentuated the power of the voter. Realizing that they no longer had to tolerate any government longer than five years, the Bahamian voter began a practice that continues to this day: the five-year rotation of parties, which allows only one term per party before voters make a change.
Even more importantly, this election might have also been the beginning, on a large scale, of a strange philosophy that seems now to guide Bahamian voters: selecting who to vote for by determining who the voter dislikes instead of who they like.
Although Turnquest lost his Mount Moriah seat, he was appointed a member of the Senate and leader of the opposition's business in that chamber.
Consistent with our constitution, Alvin Smith, the elected member of Parliament for North Eleuthera, who had served as a parliamentary secretary in the FNM government, was chosen as leader of the opposition in the House.
Although Ingraham retained his North Abaco seat in 2002, he did not immediately return to party leadership or as leader of the opposition or House business. However, at his party's November 2005 convention, despite his previous promise to serve only two terms and his apparent backing of Turnquest, he was again elected FNM leader ahead of the 2007 general election.
The method of his return was not noted for its civility or its respect for compromise, but it certainly demonstrated an amazing ambition to attain and hold power with very little thought for the national well-being. The move, however, did produce his desired outcome.
In the general election on May 2, 2007, the FNM, led once again by Ingraham, won the most seats (23 for the FNM versus 18 for the PLP), defeating Perry Christie and the PLP.
Five short years later, political fortunes for both men completely reversed. Because of his government's defeat in the May 2012 general election, Ingraham resigned as FNM leader and as a member of Parliament, following which the FNM elected Dr. Hubert Minnis to succeed Ingraham as leader of the opposition on May 9, 2012.
Five years later, on May 10, 2017, the voters again demonstrated their desire to have one-term governments and to vote against what they saw as a troubled PLP rather than for an FNM with a new, albeit contentious, leader. The FNM impressively won the government, capturing 36 of 40 seats and sweeping the former PLP government out of office.
Christie lost the election and his seat for a multiplicity of reasons, including the fact that he and his colleagues became disconnected from the electorate.
Christie also lost because the Bahamian people had grown weary of a leader who offered few solutions to the nation's challenges and who, along with some of his Cabinet ministers and colleagues, displayed a degree of delusional arrogance and entitlement that were utterly unacceptable to and rejected by the Bahamian electorate.
With the election of Minnis, The Bahamas witnessed one of the most divisive periods of political reprisals against members of the dislodged PLP government.
Two former PLP Cabinet ministers, a former PLP member of Parliament, and the chairman of a government corporation were arrested for corruption during their term in office. Two of the three cases were lost by the Minnis administration, and the third matter remains outstanding, unlikely ever to be tried.
The loss of civility and respect for compromise manifested by that FNM administration, along with a national consensus that the Minnis administration was entirely out of its depth regarding governance, including its gross mismanagement of both the Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts and the COVID-19 pandemic, descended to unprecedented depths under the Minnis administration.
This total disregard for the well-being of Bahamians was so evident that the FNM was utterly routed in the general election of September 16, 2021, winning only six out of 40 seats, three for New Providence and three for the Family Islands.
The PLP's victory at the 2021 polls was brilliantly designed and surgically orchestrated by Philip Davis, a former law partner and colleague of Ingraham and Christie.
Loss of civility and respect for compromise
As far back as the days immediately following a nation united to achieve Majority Rule, successive political administrations have experienced a loss of civility and respect for compromise. These phenomena have persisted in both inter and intra-party rivalries.
Our political history is replete with egregious examples of the loss of civility and respect for compromise and the negative ramifications that result from them. One of the unintended consequences of a loss of civility and respect for compromise is that the electorate often emulated the behavior of our leaders - deeply depreciating the positive effects that can result from the antithesis of these concepts.
Civility and compromise are two words that are too often absent from our vocabulary and daily lives. Their absence profoundly impacts what is happening to us as a people and as a society. By making a conscious effort to practice these two concepts with one another, we can change not only our own lives for the better, but the lives of those around us. Then, like a ripple in a lake, the effects of civility and compromise could course throughout our nation and transform it forever.
The challenge for all of us for the next 50 years is to learn from past experiences how examples of the loss of civility and respect for compromise that have dotted our political landscape have kept us from achieving all that we could have as a nation. We should begin to recognize the things that could now be accomplished if we desist from drowning in dissent.
Conclusion
We should recognize that, although the road since independence is a story of the loss of civility and respect for compromise, every Bahamian, political party, and leaders of political parties possess the power to reverse this perverse propensity that has poisoned our political culture.
We now need to commit to consensus, civility, and compromise, so that the next 50 years are full of growth and achievement through a progressive and productive political culture, unimpeded by the mistakes of the past and motivated by pride in the future.
• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Bahamas, Advisors and Chartered Accountants. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.
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