As the Progressive Liberal Party meets in Convention, it is haunted by the specter of a rejuvenated Hubert Ingraham and a revitalized Free National Movement returned to ‘reclaim their things’ as the old expression in the vernacular would put it.
This time around, a so-called new Progressive Liberal Party is called upon to defend its record, explain why it has fallen short of the mark in certain areas, why it has failed to deliver on certain promises and persuade the people that they merit a second term in office.
For our part, with neither rancor nor ill-will, all we say is that we are watching and waiting to see and hear the PLP’s response to the challenge thrown their way by the Free National Movement as it is led by Hubert Ingraham and Brent Symonette.
On that note, let it be said and understood by all who would lead that the attentive public is today far too sophisticated to be deceived or impressed by personal attacks, character assassination or idle bickering by anyone.
Those who would lead are today called upon to deal with issues.
Touting, as it is wont to do, a commitment to ‘putting people first’, the Christie Government today has the daunting task of demonstrating that is translating word into deed.
Close observers of the national political scene have already made up their minds. There are those Bahamians who are convinced that the current regime is a disappointment, that it has not delivered and that I cannot fulfill the bulk of its campaign promises.
On the other hand, there are those Bahamians who are convinced that the foundation for social transformation has been laid, that the worst is behind and that the future is bright. These are the types of Bahamians who would remind all and sundry that Rome was not built in a day and that the new Progressive Liberal Party is on the verge of doing some truly great things.
As of this moment, much of this remains in the realm of conjecture, surmise and hope. As an old Bahamian saying responds, ‘mouth can say anything’.
We also know that for better or worse, people are judged by the words they use and the promises they make. And as we all know, when words return, they can bless or curse, vindicate or condemn.
Nowhere is this as true as it is in the political realm.
Former Prime Minister, Ingraham knows this. Witness some of the current public dismay and chagrin at how he turned back on words that promised so much to Senator Tommy Turnquest and Mr. Dion Foulkes.
Interestingly, Prime Minister, Christie is a man who is never lost for words. Some three years and a half ago, he made a valiant effort to distinguish what he was about as a prime minister from the legacy that belongs to the Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden O. Pindling.
Today the Progressive Liberal Party is in the spotlight and that spotlight is on some of their words and some of their promises. As every one knows, word and promises have a logic of their own. They can some times return to haunt those who once uttered them.
In this regard, note that the current prime minister made an observation about what he dubbed ‘the real genius of Lynden Pindling’. As he notes, “He inspired us to move to a new frontier of our collective being as a people. It was something we could not see but only sense, it was something we could not touch but only feel. But it was real and my, how marvelously it worked. We were uplifted-“
In contrast, he notes, “Thirty-five years later, a new PLP Government faces much the same challenge that Lynden Pindling faced when the first PLP Government took office in 1967.
“In the same way that Pindling in 1967 had to exhort Bahamians to strive for excellence and to lift themselves up, the new PLP Government of Perry Christie in 2002 must now inspire Bahamians to transform themselves to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities that lie before them. “Pindling promised us an Age of Upliftment. Tonight I promise you an Age of Transformation – a transformation in the way we govern, a transformation in the institutional framework of governance, a transformation in values and attitudes, and a transformation in the way we relate to each other as members of our society.”
This is the yard stick by which he wishes to be measured. So be it. In the ultimate analysis, the Bahamian people will weigh in the balances all who lead and all who would lead. As it has always been, some will be measure up, while others will be found wanting.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
