Dear Editor,
We are in that season again when all and sundry take leave of their senses and escape into a land of fantasy, where for a paltry sum of $400.00 well meaning individuals get the opportunity of taking a shot at the title of who can over promise with a straight face, and under deliver if granted the opportunity. But this time around it seems different. The main contenders should have switched their slogans; those wanting a new day should be spending more time on the future viability and relevance of their organization, and those looking to the future do not seem to realize that it is a new day or time for their party but their leader keeps on acting like a high schooler still playing with his friends.
This is not going to be an election like those in the past. We may see political leadership skip a generation as those fifty-somethings and under finally get to exercise their rights and come into the political spotlight. Shaping up to be a battle of all the middle-aged folk born between 1967 and 1973. This may happen because the old foggies of my generation no longer have the "swing vote", we have been replaced by the new "influencers" and whatever is going on in that digital world with all of its' algorithms and social profiling data software. I am hoping for a very surgical exercise where those who have dedicated themselves to their constituencies and the troublemakers who have stood their ground in their parties will come to the front. I am hoping for such a political disarray that this eclectic collection will see the wisdom in working together for the good of the nation. This may be our last chance to do so, with the global geo-political-social climate that we find ourselves in. Then there is that other battle playing out between the Doctors "dem". Not much attention was being given to that internal party struggle until the former Prime Minister endorsed Dr.Sands which may have tilted the scale a bit as to which Doctor may keep his seat and emerge as an eventual party leader. I am not too sure if the other former Prime Minister helped Mr.Davis with his endorsement, but we will see. This may not be the time for us to recall that we are seeing a recurring theme in how leaders get to be at the helm of political parties. Ingraham, Christie and Sands were all "fired" by the leaders of their party, but the firing of Sands at the instigation of the leader of the Opposition may come back to haunt Dr.Minnis as that firing should not have happened and was seen as "petty". If the pandemic was handled by a person of Dr.Sand's expertise we may be in a different situation in this pandemic.
However, there are still some shortsighted folk (mostly union) who have made the mistake of aligning themselves politically with who they think will give them the best deal. I don't think they understand that regardless of who wins, the Public and Civil Service has to be downsized; they are such an ungrateful lot. ... ..the majority of them have not been furloughed and still receive a paycheck, while a host of others in the country are suffering financially. You would have thought they would have learned their lesson when some flooded South Florida in July 2020 to relieve themselves of the monies they had accumulated during the shutdown, but they came back home form America and also brought a spike in Covid-19 cases; the Government did not manage that situation well at all. Hopefully this election finds us at a better place.
I hope that at least some of the contenders have the compassion to inform the voters of the downsizing that will occur, but up to now it seems that both of major political leaders have agreed not to bring it up in their campaigning. Perhaps access to the Public Treasury is still the prize for winning an election in our country. In closing, I am drawn back to the earlier comment I made about this being a "surgical" Election, in the sense that it will be the voters doing the surgery. There are many waiting on the sidelines, some of them having been promised opportunities where will be able to step back into political life as if they never left, but the Bahamian people are not easy, even if they take your money, eat your food and drink your libations. This Election is going to be about our Children's Children and if we understand that there will not be a lot of surprises.
Sincerely,
Edward Hutcheson
