Dr. Hubert Minnis (Killarney), the leader of the official opposition Free National Movement (FNM), recently told Nassau Guardian reporter Krystel Rolle that he is being “overtly victimized” by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government “because it has yet to give him several things that normally accompany his office”.
The government is obligated to provide the opposition leader with an officer, an aide, secretarial staff and a messenger. So far the Christie administration has provided Dr. Minnis with a driver and a personal assistant, but has yet to provide him with a car and his personal assistant has yet to be paid, despite being on the job for two months.
The opposition leader said that he has spoken to Prime Minister Perry Christie on several occasions about his situation, but has yet to get an office. As of the date of writing this letter, Minnis uses the FNM headquarters on Mackey Street as his office. Christie, on the other hand, was provided an office under the Ingraham administration when he was opposition leader. According to newspaper report, the office was located in the Bayparl Building on Parliament Street. While he rarely used it because of its state of disrepair, at least Christie had an office. The leader of the opposition has chosen to view his unsavory predicament as political victimization. Maybe he is on to something here. One possible hypothesis is that the government is intentionally ignoring Minnis in order to get back at former prime minister Hubert A. Ingraham.
There was a lot of pent-up frustration among the PLP grassroots with the previous administration. Maybe that is one possibility for the way Minnis is being treated by the government. Or maybe Minnis is simply making a mountain out of a molehill. I don’t know. But I do know that September 12, the day on which the report was published in The Nassau Guardian, is 128 days or over four months since May 7.
Minnis was officially elected leader of the FNM during its May 26 special one-day convention at Holy Trinity Activities Centre in Stapledon Gardens. And he was chosen by his seven FNM parliamentary colleagues to lead the party in the House of Assemble a few days after May 7. The FNM party needed a leader after Ingraham told the nation on the night of May 7 that he was resigning his post as leader of the FNM. And the Killarney member of Parliament stepped up to the plate by filling the void. I would hate to think that Minnis is being snubbed by the government. If he is, I cannot even begin to imagine what the present administration is trying to accomplish by treating the FNM leader in such a shoddy fashion. If and when the FNM wins the government, I hope the governing party does not treat the PLP leader in a similar fashion. You may not like the official opposition leader, but at least have respect for that post.
But I will give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe this is just another blatant case of government oversight. Bureaucratic tardiness has been one of the major hallmarks of Bahamian governments since time immemorial. Be that as it may, the opposition leader is an integral part of the parliamentary system of government. Our system of government is similar to Great Britain’s. When the Founding Fathers of The Bahamas gained independence from the British in 1973, they chose to retain Great Britain’s system of government, known as the Westminster system. That is why our head of state is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and her representative is the governor general.
While the post of opposition leader appears to be slighted by this government, in Great Britain, however, the opposition leader is afforded deference and respect by the British government and the Queen. In his book “British Government and Politics”, R.M. Punnett said the following concerning the official opposition party and its leader: “With the British system of responsible government, issues in Parliament become a question of supporting or opposing the government of the day, with this being further emphasized by the official recognition of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, and the formal post of leader of the opposition. This situation encourages a two-party system, with one party as the government and the other as the opposition.”
Hardliners of the PLP might be upset with Minnis for keeping the governing party’s feet to the fire. But what else do they expect for him to do? Sit idly by and say nothing? He is only doing what oppositions are expected to do in the Westminster system of government.
Without opposition parties, we would have a de facto dictatorship. That is why the post of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition leader must be treated with deference. The prime minister must move swiftly to provide the FNM leader with all the trappings his important position is entitled to. After all, it has been over four months now since he became FNM leader. There is simply no excuse for the way Minnis is being treated.
By: Kevin Evans
The Bahamas
September, 2012
