By Dr. Bernard
J. Nottage ADVANCED
POLL 23RD APRIL
2002 COALITION+LABOUR Fellow
Bahamians, On May 2nd most
of you will have the opportunity to elect a new government.
Tomorrow however, some of you, policemen, Defence Force
officers, and poll workers will be voting in the advanced
poll. The new government you
vote into power will be the first that you will elect in the
21st century and its policies will shape the economic,
social and political landscape well into the new
century. This new century will be a
time of enormous change, challenge and opportunity for the
Bahamas and for Bahamians. Your choice, your decisions, on
Election Day will determine whether the Bahamas will be able
to adapt to those changes, meet those challenges and take
advantage of those opportunities. For the very first time,
you will have a substantive alternative choice to the PLP
and the FNM. That new alternative, Coalition+Labour,
is offering a truly novel and creative set of policies,
which are very different from those offered by
them. We are proposing
reform Many of you will be voting
for the first time. Some of you, though registered, have
decided not to vote because you do not feel that it makes a
difference to you which party is elected. I know that many
of you, especially the first time voters, are
undecided. The PLP, which has had its
turn governing the Bahamas for twenty-five years, appears
still not to have reformed itself internally and the
question that you must ask yourself, therefore, is whether
they can be entrusted to bring the urgent and necessary
reforms needed at the national level. The FNM has had ten years
of unchallenged parliamentary supremacy in which to achieve
its goals and objectives but has failed to expand the
economic base of the nation and to reduce criminal activity;
has not been able to improve on the quality of education,
which the majority of your children are receiving; and has
failed to address, adequately, the absence of comprehensive
health and medical care for the poor and the
elderly. The FNM has also failed to
advance and enrich the nation’s democracy. Several recent initiatives
demonstrate just how far our Bahamas is from a deepened
democracy. Last week the government
announced that the uniformed branches of the public service
would receive salary increases amounting to $5.2 million on
Wednesday 24th April, which just happens to be
the day before Police and Defence Force officers vote in the
advanced poll. This pronouncement is
evidence that neither the democracy nor the governance of
the FNM has advanced beyond the dependency culture, which it
criticized before it came to office. Can the government expect
any reasonable Bahamian to believe that the timing of this
pork barrel initiative was coincidental? The FNM government has
acted out of desperation! Coalition+Labour
states emphatically that this announcement coming at this
time is an attempt by the government to influence the votes
of Police and Defence Force officers. This type of influence
peddling flies in the face of democracy and good
governance. Bahamians deserve
better! It is obvious from recent
demonstrations that the rest of the public service feels
disadvantaged by their exclusion from this
exercise. We hold the view that
governments simply are custodians of the common national
patrimony. "We do not subscribe to
the principle that "the end justifies the means" or parties
should strive to "win at any cost". We believe that the
resources of the state should not be used during an election
period by incumbent governments to influence voters. That is
a misuse of the people’s power. Coalition+Labour
believes in governance that is characterized by fairness and
honesty. We are offended by these
blatant incidents of political patronage by the
FNM. A Coalition+Labour
government will never attempt to induce public officers to
vote for them by offering pay hikes on the eve of elections.
The FNM government did this in 1997 and is doing it again.
This is vote-buying, this is part of the FNM’s
political culture and this is criminal! A well-trained and
professional public service is essential for national
development. Increases in salary make up only one component
in the benefits that should accrue to the public service.
The salaries of professional public officers should be
comparable to those of their colleagues in the private
sector. Coalition+Labour is
committed to the well being of the public officer after his
retirement and will increase the pension benefits of public
officers. We have committed in our
"Contract 2002" to institute automatic regular
reviews of the salary and conditions of service of public
officers. We will also establish an
End of Year Reward System for officers who maintain a
perfect attendance record and who perform with excellence on
the job. These benefits will be appreciated more by public
officers than the FNM’s pay inducements at election
time. Despite their solemn
promises, the FNM has failed to make the Bahamas secure, and
Bahamians’ fear of crime has increased tremendously.
Indeed, the FNM has presided over the most violent period in
Bahamian history. Public Safety is one of
the fundamental duties of the state. If citizens do not feel
safe in their homes and in the wider society, there could be
little hope of entrenching true democracy. The challenge for
this nation and its leaders is to forge a national effort to
break the cycle of criminal activity in The
Bahamas. We congratulate the police
for their continued efforts to stem the rise in criminal
activity. Still, it is clear that there has been a
resurgence of crime that desperately needs to be
arrested. Coalition+Labour
believes that greater focus should be placed on ensuring
that the police are fully mobile and have access to
state-of-the-art communications infrastructure, to enable
them to significantly reduce the response time in cases of
emergency. A modern, well-trained,
well-motivated and accountable Police Force is necessary, if
we are to impact crime and criminal activity successfully,
while maintaining the confidence and trust of the general
public. If elected,
Coalition+Labour will: The Royal Bahamas Defence
Force is an essential component in the national security
system of the Bahamas. A properly staffed and equipped force
can reduce the transshipment of drugs, the smuggling of
humans and illegal fishing through Bahamian waters to an
irreducible minimum. Clearly past governments have neglected
the Defence Force and it would appear that the present
government has lost confidence in the Force as an
institution and in its leadership. The Defence Force is
under-funded and incapable of carrying out its mandate to
protect the Bahamas. We have received
disturbing reports on conditions at the Defence Force. The
newly purchased crafts, the HMBS Nassau and HMBS Bahamas are
virtually crippled due to the fact that spare parts cannot
be bought as the company that built the boats has since gone
out of business. The craft stationed at Inagua cannot
conduct its patrols of the waters to the south as the Force
has lost its credit with fuel suppliers because of
non-payment. The morale at the base is extremely low and the
force is loosing more competent officers than it is able to
recruit. Moreover, there is no system of regular salary
increases and promotions and defence personnel feel betrayed
and neglected. This state of affairs
cannot be permitted to continue. The role of the Bahamas
Defence Force must be reviewed and redefined in the context
of national security. The Defence Force has
within its ranks some of the best trained and committed
Bahamians in all of the public service. They are indeed the
forgotten heroes of the uniformed service. These men and
women deserve to be recognized and rewarded for the
sacrifice and courage they demonstrate in spite of the odds
they face on a daily basis. We Will: This is a serious time,
perhaps a pivotal time. The decision you make in the voting
booth will have long lasting effect on you and your
children. It is essential that
you vote on hard issues, not on
emotion or histrionics, but look at your
vote as an investment in the future of our country. If
we don’t stand up and vote on the issues and vision
that responsible politicians offer us, then who else will
there be to protect our heritage and our place in the new
global economy? I bring you good news. You
now have an alternative. You now have
Coalition+Labour. Coalition+Labour is the
answer, the smart choice for you young Bahamians, who
will be voting for the first time and who want vision,
opportunity and empowerment. Coalition+Labour is the
answer, the most obvious choice for you thousands of
Bahamians who want a party that will secure your heritage
and your land. Coalition+Labour is the
answer, the very best choice for members and
supporters of other parties who are hurt and frustrated
because those parties have lost their once noble stewardship
and direction. Let the Fresh Wind blow
in the best choice, the most obvious choice, the smart
choice! All you have to do is
‘Mark your X at the Cross!’ Take
Control!! Do yourself a favour,
vote Coalition+Labour
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