by Adrian Gibson
First published in the The Tribune under the byline, Young Man's View, here...
Okay, let’s be honest....I’m going to be talking about this referendum at some point in my columns for quite some time.
It was interesting to see the political fireworks this week, as young turks within the PLP rebelled and refused to toe the party line based on decisions of conscience and FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis did an about-face relative to his party’s position on the referendum. Whilst I believe in our constitution espousing views relative to full equality and removing all semblances of discrimination, I can understand the concerns of those politicians and those of the Bahamian public.
Relative to the FNM, it appears that there was a lack of broad consultation within the party prior to a position being stated. Frankly, Carl Bethel—who sat on the Constitutional Commission—may be conflicted, since he is a part of that Commission and also considered to be rendering advice to that party. Carl Bethel cannot on one hand contribute to the writing of the Commission’s report and then on the other hand critique it and develop a well-thought out, consultative position within the FNM. A number of FNMs—some of them being members of the last Cabinet—have called me and expressed their objections to Mr Bethel serving as the point man and chief adviser to the FNM and performing his tasks as a member of the Commission. I am told that at the FNM’s caucus meeting on Tuesday, Parliamentarians rebelled and, therefore, in carrying out his Parliamentary caucus’ mandate, Dr Minnis backpedalled. Frankly, it appears that as Bahamians dig deeper into certain Bills or find themselves confused by the legalese in the questions, there is a general hesitation.
The government does not appear to be adequately invested in the process. The referendum is a noble gesture that would bring the Bahamas laws into alignment with that of first world states; however, the government seems to have decided to bum-rush the people. The referendum needs to be postponed by a few months before the broader conversation is totally derailed and to allow for further discourse. The Bahamian public—who I interact with daily, listen to on the talk shows, read their comments on Facebook and in letters to the editor—appear to have growing concerns about the referendum and two months is not enough time to dispel such concerns or to properly conduct an educational campaign (perhaps, January/February 2015 would be more reasonable). It is obvious that the voting public do not feel that they should blindly trust the government.
The upcoming referendum would be the second time that we have attempted to amend our constitution and it has far reaching implications. Time should be taken to mount a proper educational campaign; there’s no point in getting it wrong twice. Yes, I know the challenges with the Bills, I too have questions relative to Bills two and four and any of the regulations and oversight concerning those Bill once passed into law. Bill number four needs to be clarified for the general public because fear-mongering is being engaged in all of the political parties/politicians pursuant to their respective agendas.
Sean McWeeney and Mr Christie need to both hurriedly begin to make speeches and engage in public outreach efforts—in a more tangible, hands-on fashion—if these Bills are expected to pass in November or any other time.
