A snap election in the Bahamas

In recent years several incumbent governments within the Caribbean Region and other states have called snap elections[1] to maximise[2] their chances of winning these elections. There is little information on how or what happened after these elections. The Bahamas, a Caribbean state, seems to be leaning towards employing this strategy. This paper seeks to analyse the issues of elections in the Caribbean and the likelihood of a snap election in the Bahamas.

Elections in any country is a significant issue. This is likely to be more problematic in light of the global health pandemic COVID 19. And adding to the fire in the Bahamas is the likelihood of more than nineteen parties have indicated that they will contest these elections.

The Bahamas has a history of two major parties contesting against each other to hold the seat of government for a term of five years. These upcoming elections promise to be different. It appears that there is likely to be marred with breakaways from the traditional two parties, and we will likely either have a minority government or a collation government.
However, it unclear whether any of the preceding will occur. In the scheme of things, it is reasonable to opine that the party which aptly deals with the bread and butter issues will win the election.

In addition to analysing the issues of a snap election, in this paper, the researcher will examine the elections in Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and the United States of America compared to the culture and trend of elections in the Bahamas.
At the moment, it appears as if the upcoming election in the Bahamas hangs in the balance. Therefore whichever major party shifts its paradigm[3] and focuses on the bread and butter issue can easily emerge victorious.
The Bahamas must learn from other states. In this small village that we call earth, where we are no longer separated by distance and time, technologies have made it so easy for one to be in one continent and have real-time news on what is occurring in another continent.

As recent as 2020, there were elections in several states. What lessons can the people of the Bahamas learn from these countries after their election?
Except for Guyana, all of the states had one common issue that the electors considered when they voted. The management of the COVID 19 pandemic. However, in Jamacia and Trinidad and Tobago, there were snap elections. And interestingly, the incumbent party won.
In these states, the critical issues that delivered the incumbent victory were the governments handling the COVID 19 pandemic and the country’s management dealing with the core issues of job creation, improving the standard of living for their citizens by paying a livable minimum wage.

In Jamaica, for example, the government did not enforce, according to the PAHO/WHO[4], a strict countrywide lockdown. The government sought help from Cuba[5]. The Cubian medical team were able to implement a system for early detection of the virus, and hence they were able to treat those with early symptoms of the dreaded virus.

The partial enforcement of the PAHO/WHO countrywide lockdown ensured that the vendors were plying their trade and were able to provide for their families. This accordingly won the hearts of the ordinary Jamaicans, and hence the government was returned to power in a landslide victory. The Jamaicans were happy that the manifesto dealt with matters centred on developing the people and their livelihood.
While the opposition focused on the same old issues of corruption and mismanagement, they were rejected for their lack of vision and their refusal to deal with the bread and butter issue, which is the Jamaican people’s plight.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the incumbent PNM[6] was also returned to the government on slightly different terms. It lost a seat in the Parliament. And yet again, one can conclude that the government dealing with the pandemic was on the front burner of each elector mind. That, coupled with Trinidad and Tobago’s people’s development, creating jobs and paying a fair minimum wage were critical. This vote indicated that the people were fed up with the same old political rhetoric of corruption and mismanagement.
In the United States[7], the result was different. The incumbent lost. The Republicans lost because they failed to deal efficiently with the pandemic. It was lie after lie, same old same old. In contrast, they riled up the base with supremacy rhetoric that failed because the millennials came out in large numbers and voted for the opposition because they addressed the bread and butter issues.

It is no wonder why the President on day one signed several executive orders to signal his government intention to deal with the issues that concern and affect the American people.
While it is true that leaders feed to their base the kind of rhetoric that they think will fire them up, it is equally essential that the needs of not only their base but the rank and file member of the wider society be dealt with in their political manifesto.
We have witnessed both in the Caribbean and the United States how this proposition was proven to be true. It is the respectful submission that the people are fed up with the old paradigm of mismanagement and corruption, and they are focus on their personal development and survival.

In contrast to the preceding are Guyana and Suriname. It is interesting to note that both are South American countries and are members of CARICOM. In the case of Suriname, the last elections sought the end of the rule of Desi Bouterse[8]. In that election, neither of the major political parties secured enough votes to with the presidency. Thus, a coalition government was formed without Desi Bouterse, for the first time in almost twenty years.
In Suriname, the issue of corruption was upfront and centre in the election campaign. That and the promise of a better life for Suriname’s people was the focal point. This caused the indigenous Suriname people to deflect to their indigenous leader, thereby stripping the incumbent from its majority hold.

It must also be noted that each ethnic group of the Suriname peoples were represented in the election, and by and large ethnic cleavage took place, hence, the ousting of Bouterse from power.

Whether the multiparty contest will provide the upsetting of the Bahamas government is yet to be seen. One cannot accurately make that prediction since there is time for both major parties to rethink and re-strategise and recapture members who are disillusioned and may either not vote or vote for a small party.

In Guyana, the government called an early election in 2015. It lost that election by a slim one-seat margin. A no-confidence vote toppled[9] the coalition government in the Parliament on December 21, 2018, when one of its member of Parliament voted with the opposition. This gave rise to a series of legal battles, which led to elections in March 2020.
Amid rumours of voter fraud[10], the coalition lost the election. It would be essential to note that nine parties[11] contested that election for the first time in many years.
In the Bahamas, it is different. The Bahamian are mortally afraid now to hear from their Prime Minister. They see him as the voice of wow. For them, he only bears terrible news. In recent months the Prime Minister seems to be preoccupied with reporting his government’s poor handling of the COVID 19 pandemic.Now the nation await the Sunday address .

The researcher’s respectful submission is that the Prime Minister had made a bad decision when he failed to follow other Caribbean countries that sought and received help from the Republic of Cuba. The Prime Minister is well aware that Cuba is better prepared with competent medical experts to deal with the pandemic. His continued refusal to seek help from our neighbour Cuba is costing the Bahamas. It is dangerous and absurd for any leader to operate oblivious to the social, cultural and economic realities of his country in a period of a pandemic.

The Bahamas leaders must recognise and understand that this economy thrives on services. We do not produce and export to sustain our economy. Therefore, a lockdown of the country without a clear plan will hurt the people and the nation.

It appears that an election is impending. The party that addresses the real issues, creating jobs and sustaining employment, raising the minimum wage, reducing taxation will emerge. Unlike the other Caribbean states, the Bahamas does not have an ethnic problem, and no leader should or can depend on ethnic cleavage to win.

The upcoming election is about feeding the nation. It has to be about putting the Bahamian first. It is not about

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.