IN THE Bahamas, an electoral mechanism should be implemented to remove elected legislative members who sometimes are found to be inept benchwarmers.
After a general election, a majority of locally elected politicians have been known to adopt an air of master-like superiority, suddenly becoming scarce and indifferent or poorly representing the interests of their constituents while seemingly disregarding the notion that they are servants/agents of the people.
The Bahamas is a cash-driven, materialistic society in which certain politicians fancy themselves to be among an unaccountable elite. Corruption is a mainstay of Bahamian politics where over the years more than a handful of politicians have mishandled money or solicited bribes to maintain lavish lifestyles and/or doled out contracts to reward cronies and seek patronage. Here, corruption among a few politicians and public officials vary, but can include of bribery, embezzlement, graft, nepotism, patronage, extortion, cronyism, kickbacks and bid-rigging.
A process must be put in place to make politicians directly answerable to their constituents even before a general election is called, rather than the current setup where a lousy MP could “live fat of the hog” for five years. An electoral recall is a political device that would undoubtedly be a valuable check on the power of venal, self-serving public office holders, from the local administrative units to the central government. It would perhaps eliminate the notion of a safe constituency/seat, increase a MP’s accountability and empower Bahamians to rid their constituencies of certain politicians who appear to be nothing more than lying hypocrites.
Any politician who displays a lack of fitness, engages in an act of malfeasance or misconduct while in office, violates their oath of office, neglects his/her duties, willfully misuses, misappropriates or converts public funds or property associated with their elected/appointed office, is convicted of a felony and/or is corrupt or incompetent, should face the electorate in an emergency, US-style recall election. In our dying political system, there are numerous oafish legislators who are ill-equipped for public office and even unprepared for parliamentary debates.
In about 36 US states (eg, California, Georgia, Washington, Michigan, Colorado, New Jersey, etc) recall elections are held at the state and/or local administrative levels—from city councils and school boards to state governors.
When petitioning for a recall election, at least 25 per cent of the eligible voters casting ballots in a constituency during the last election for office should be accounted for. Frankly, local appellate judges should also be elected from a pool of perspective adjudicators so that they could also be held accountable by a more discerning public. The signature requirement for the recall of district officers such as chief councilors and local government representatives on the Family Islands should be 10 to 15 per cent of the residents in the settlement that they represent. Once a recall petition is certified, a special by-election should immediately be called, with a ballot of new candidates—and possibly the incumbent—seeking election to the newly vacant post.
California voters have attempted to have 32 gubernatorial recalls since 1911, with only the much-publicized 2003 recall of former Governor Gray Davis actually reaching the ballot. According to CNN, in a most “surreal” campaign Californians elected movie/body building celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger over 134 candidates to replace Davis as governor. Mr Davis had been recalled after he was seen to have mismanaged the state budget.
In 1921, former North Dakota governor Lynn J. Frazier, with his attorney general and commissioner of agriculture, was removed from office. In Michigan and Oregon, state legislators were recalled in 1983 and 1988, respectively. Arizona voters also attempted to recall former Governor Evan Mecham in 1988, but he was impeached by the House of Representatives before that election date.
While opponents of recalls may claim that they may prohibit unpopular decisions from being made, the notion of majoritism that works for our five-year election cycles should also apply for a system of recall.
In bolstering their democratic ideals, the New Jersey Constitution addresses recall by stating:
“The people reserve unto themselves the power to recall, after at least one year of service, any elected official in this State or representing this State in the United States Congress. The Legislature shall enact laws to provide for such recall elections. Any such laws shall include a provision that a recall election shall be held upon petition of at least 25% of the registered voters in the electoral district of the official sought to be recalled.”
Article 72 of the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela allows for the recall of elected representatives—inclusive of the President. In 2004, a recall referendum was undertaken to recall President Hugo Chavez. The referendum did not recall Mr Chavez.
Amending the Constitution to include an article on electoral recall would be demonstrative of the ideal of direct democracy where Bahamians would have a greater sense of choice and trust in our democratic institutions, and where local politicians would be more accountable, knowing that their election to public office is subject to revocation.
It should be that if such an amendment did materialize, any MP being targeted for recall ought to be allowed to respond after which the Speaker of the House of Assembly should publicly declare the petition and forecast an impending by-election.
Nick Clegg, leader of the British political party the Liberal Democrats, has severely criticized the “gentlemen’s club” world of Westminster politics. In the Bahamas, there is a “gentlemen’s club” as certain unaccountable MPs/politicians are suspected of having a conflict of interest while misusing public funds or making politically and financially expedient decisions. There is no prosecution or impeachment of elected, central government representatives, particularly since both sides seem to have adopted a misguided policy of protecting each other.
Locally, although certain politicians have more skeletons in their closets than one would care to know about, it is nearly impossible to give them the heave-ho before the end of their five year term. Elected politicians should also be subjected to impeachment proceedings, which is a legal process whereby the House can bring changes against an MP with the Senate serving jury. However, with the current good ole boys network, hell would probably freeze over before this or a recall mechanism is adopted.
A truly representative democracy should be inclusive of primaries to decide who should be the banner bearer for a party in each constituency, as well as referendums, electoral debates, a recall system and impeachment aspects. Real representative government is that where politicians elected by the people truly represent their constituents, monitor spending of public funds, vigorously debate issues rather than the foolishness about who is gay or has sweethearts, make decisions that’s in the best interest of the nation and monitor the actions of government.
The public is disenchanted with politicians who show up every election cycle, begging for support only to disappear once elected. Kudos must be given to MPs such as Bran McCartney, Shane Gibson, Hubert Minnis, Obie Wilchcombe, Earl Deveaux, and one or two others, who are constantly in their constituencies, listening to the concerns of residents while maintaining communications and constituency offices. This is quite unlike several others whose constituency offices are either closed or who, once appointed a minister, perceive themselves to be too high and mighty.
CARL BETHEL AND CONDITIONS AT SC McPHERSON
Early in September, Minister of Education Carl Bethel made remarks that all public school students should be allowed to attend school, even if fees were not paid. He directed all principals/administrators to accept, register and enroll all students who are entitled to attend their school and promised to enforce this directive.
While I share the sentiment that all students should have equal access to a free education, Mr Bethel’s kneejerk reaction to the school fees issue appears to have been an attempt to politically pander to a large voting bloc parents with school age children. Although schools such as SC McPherson and St Georges (Grand Bahama) have exhausted their capacity to accommodate students while still providing them with a first-rate education, the minister’s statements emboldened parents to demand that their child be enrolled—with or without fee payments—in already jam-packed institutions. Surely, with an economy that’s on a downward spiral, the minister—who seems to have an over-inflated sense of his own greatness—should have known that many parents would withdraw their children from private schools and enroll them at public schools.
Before sounding off on the school fees issue, Minister Bethel should have done research, where he would have found that these fees—rather than entirely being registration fees—were needed by schools to purchase students’ neckties, crests, physical education kits, workbooks, lab fees, identification cards and medical insurance.
According to President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) Belinda Wilson:
"The minister's public announcement was unnecessary at this time with the existing chaos surrounding the opening of schools for the 2008/2009 school year. A waiting period to determine the extent to which this action has disenfranchised any student and an accurate count of the number of students affected would have revealed the accurate figures. These figures in turn could have been used to verify the reasons given, provide a reflection on the number of students affected and facilitate an orderly resolution to any outstanding issues that may have also affected registration of students.”
Furthermore, President of The Primary Principals' Association Wenly Fowler and President of The Secondary Principals' Association Abraham Stubbs spoke to the issue, stating that:
"Recent reports in the media may have given the impression that public schools have become more concerned with finances rather than students' education. This is not the case. It never was and never will be."
"The fact is many administrators and teachers make frequent and personal sacrifices to ensure that children have the resources to function in the classroom. There are many children who attend school without lunch, and other basic needs/materials that will enable them to function during the school day. Administrators and teachers often - and without fanfare - put their hands in their usually shallow pockets to assist these students."
Mr Bethel should also spend time focusing on encouraging parents to partner with schools and participate in their child’s school affairs, rather than making statements that could lead to divisiveness between parents and schools or impugn the reputation of school officials. With an already chaotic school opening, the minister’s reckless statement could only overshadow and exacerbate problems faced by the educational system.
SC McPherson, for example, is faced by serious overcrowding problems, even after the construction of a new Junior High on Faith Avenue. Anyone with half a brain cell could see that at SC, there is a lack of adequate accommodation as there’s a lack of rooms, desks/chairs and a shortage of teachers. At this hemorrhaging school, which is bursting at the seams, teachers such as myself are made to mercilessly float (move around) about a nearly half mile wide campus while logging around heavy book bags and subject-related paraphernalia with nearly 40 students in tow.
Educational officials should make unannounced school checks to get a realistic view of the situation at ground zero, where teachers (such as myself) lack stability and laboriously dart about the compound in search of a classroom while having bloated timetables of 18 to 20 teaching periods; the inhumane ratio of student to teacher is anywhere from 37 or 40 to one; there is no permanent nurse since she’s split between two or three schools per week and that therefore shows the Ministry of Education’s flippant approach to dealing with the health concerns of students/teachers; departments such as social studies and science have teacher shortages; there is no ventilation in the school’s hot auditorium, where assemblies are crazily held; and teachers are ridiculously limited to 20 copies to accommodate a class of 40 pupils.
Frankly, for me this is all demoralizing and conditions such as this contributes to the low morale on school campuses throughout New Providence. Is there any wonder why so many teachers leave the profession? SC McPherson, a top performing school, now has a population of more than 1,400 students and has evolved into one of the largest schools in the Bahamas. With these class sizes, could there possibly be any wonder why the quality of education is decreasing? Even more, it is becoming ever more apparent that our worsening educational system is obviously producing some of the country’s worse leaders—at all levels.
First published in The Tribune on Monday, September 29, 2008 under the byline, Young Man's View.
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