The longer we persist in holding onto this pathetically regressive form of governance and all of its supporting agencies, the more chaotic, indifferent and contentious will our country become.
At present we have several forms of both autocratic and democratic socialism operating in our land, under the leadership of a constitutionally protected autocrat, the prime minister. ﾠAs a result of the constitutional power entrusted to that position, he can appoint and disappoint persons to direct and control citizens in ways that give him all sorts of advantages to entrench himself and his party in power. Hopefully a lot of this will be straightened out in the upcoming referendum on the Constitution.
Letﾴs take a look at the various forms of governance, first in Grand Bahama. ﾠThere we find three forms of governance, which at times seem somewhat opposed to one another. ﾠWe have what is the extension of big daddy, the central ﾖ national ﾖ federal government, manifesting itself in our indirect taxing process, law enforcement and other socio-political functions. It very much resembles the huge socialist government of the collapsed Soviet Union. This kind of governance seems more prone to a greater degree of corruption, graft and incompetence than a truly democratic one.
Second, there is the Freeport local government, which is operated by the Freeport Authority. ﾠThis government was given almost carte blanche freedom to develop and govern Freeport, without reference or accountability to Bahamian law.
Third, there is the recently established system of Bahamian local government. This one also exists outside of Freeport, and in other Family Islands. ﾠIt is controlled by the central government, which appoints a central administrator representative through whom operational monies flow to the local government. His role appears almost spy-like to ensure that central governmentﾴs interest is carried out.
In New Providence governance becomes even more convoluted because the national government functions both as a national government and a local government. ﾠThis convoluted approach to governance is seen in the way we appoint our national representatives to National assembly committees to deal with roads, Montague ramp, Potterﾴs Cay poisoning, crime in New Providence and other New Providence matters. ﾠFor these functions our national representatives are paid very handsomely while the local governments on the Family Islands are expected to deal with such local matters gratis. ﾠFurthermore, the numerous local-national ministries end up with a plethora of portfolios, which require the hiring of vast numbers of pensionable persons to administer and supervise.
The time has long ago passed for us to extricate national government from this convoluted rut, leaving local island, district and city government to deal with such matters. ﾠ
National government should not be bogged down in such petty-shop politics of yesterday. ﾠCivil rights matters of victimisation, ethics in government, homeland security, involvement in regional and global affairs like CSME, FTAA, WTO, real and meaningful national (not just New Providence) development and other national and international challenges, are the kinds of matters in which our national representatives should be involved.
As an independent country that is seeking to be truly sovereign, we need to appreciate the fact that we are now in the big leagues of nations; and so should be operating like big leaguers. ﾠThe minor leagues of municipal, district and island government are not what our national representatives should be preoccupied with. Persisting in this mode will leave us behind the eight ball both locally and internationally. If we so do, we will never cultivate and hone a tool for measuring the worthiness of individuals to serve at the national level of government; nor will those at the national level develop skills to function well in national, regional and global affairs. ﾠPersisting in this mode of governance will lead to repeated disenchantment, disgust and eventually wide swing defeat of the party in power.
If we expect to survive and thrive in a vibrant democracy of the new world order, we must institute a strong system of unified governance in which all citizens have the opportunity to be involved on a daily basis, and in a meaningful way being responsible of the development of their communities. The archaic, regressive and convoluted system of democratic-socialism needs urgent review and redesign in order to move us forward ﾖ and the sooner the better.
Vincent L. Ferguson, The Bahama Journal
