The Tribune

WHEN I turned up for the interview at the Nassau Village Constituency Office of Free National Movement candidate (FNM) Basil J Moss, I was surprised to find a shell of an office, with no furniture, no electricity and hardly any fixtures. He sat on a closed bucket of paint, while I sat on a dusty couch.

A part of me thought he was off to a late start, although this encounter happened almost two months ago, but most of all I was struck by the fact that he had no shame in hosting a journalist in this environment. Not that he should have been embarrassed, he was presumably going through a normal process as a candidate trying to get out the gate, but I expected a more pretentious character for a politician.

When I turned up for the interview with Christopher Mortimer, Nassau Village candidate for the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), he was on another island. His office had failed to advise me of the change in plans. It was sloppy business, I thought, but nonetheless I rescheduled the appointment. When I arrived the second time, I had to wait almost 30 minutes, only to have the interview cut short, because Mr Mortimer had another matter to attend to.

I never had a face-to-face with Progressive Liberal Party candidate for Nassau Village Dion Smith. This was not entirely his fault, as I chose to do the interview by telephone. After all, a busy schedule at his law office had kept us apart previously for more than three weeks.

Considering all, if my vote were based on first impressions, then it would be rather easy to decide. Alas, I prefer to read my books before rendering final judgment.

So how do the candidates stack up in the Nassau Village constituency?

There are no incumbents, or name brand candidates, except arguably Mr Mortimer, who is the 'celebrity' deputy leader of the DNA. There is no one I feel repelled by, so the game is basically wide open. I interviewed each of the candidates, and the end result may come off as a surprise.

Practising attorney Dion Smith has the deepest roots in the Nassau Village community. His grandfather was an early resident, who built the first meat market in Soldier Road, which at the time was only a dirt road. He also owned the Golden Inn, a restaurant, bar and hotel that hosted many community weddings, parties, and group functions. Mr Smith grew up in Nassau village in a home bought by his mother and father, who also had a dry goods store and apartment complex in the area. His mother recently retired but she still has a shop in the area.

"I really wanted to represent an area where the old people would say your navel string is buried. I feel a part of the community," said Mr Smith, who worked for two years on the PLP nomination in the former Kennedy constituency. The seat was hotly contested by four candidates inside the party, before it was split into Nassau Village and Bamboo Town.

When Mr Smith was a boy of five years, he was known as "Dynamite Smith", the little gospel singer with a big voice. Ruby-Ann Darling, the second woman to be elected to Parliament, invited Mr Smith to sing at a PLP convention, his first appearance on national television. At that moment, Mr Smith said, felt he became a PLP.

It worked for the party during its winning 2002 campaign, and then again in 2007 for Kenyatta Gibson's bid.

"I don't like to say that too loud, because I don't like people to beat me with Mr Gibson's stick, but I helped him on the ground and I actually worked in the polls," said Mr Smith.

He kept his application letter, submitted to the PLP after the 2007 defeat, expressing his interest to represent the party and the Bahamian people.

Businessman Basil 'BJ' Moss also came from the belly of his party, the FNM. He joined the Torch Bearers in 1981, during a decade of heightened political activism.

Mr Moss once spent 23 hours in a jail cell for his advocacy. He was arrested alongside a youthful Carl Bethel, other Torchbearers and about 11 teachers, for participating in a demonstration that advocated higher wages for teachers. Mr Moss said the government at the time raised the salaries for Parliamentarians while it told teachers there was no money. "We thought that was wrong and we went to Bay Street in support of the teachers. That was what was happening," he said.

The Moss family is politically entrenched, with tentacles across the political spectrum: Paul Moss Sr, Basil's father, ran in the 1982 General Election on the FNM ticket. His brother, Paul Moss Jr, said the entire family came from the torch. He broke tradition and joined the PLP in adulthood, but parted ways after a failed leadership bid. He is now running as an independent candidate, disaffected by all of the political parties.

At one point, BJ shared the sentiment. After the 2005 FNM convention, where party leader Hubert Ingraham returned from retirement to upstage leadership hopeful Tommy Turnquest, Mr Moss "stepped back from the party and became affiliated with the PLP". He was very supportive of Tommy-T's leadership bid at the time, and felt upstaged himself.

Reflecting on the experience, Mr Moss said: "At the end of that process, I was like a spoilt child you could say. I was a little hot and I decided, you know what, this is me."

With that he closed the door on the FNM, for a season.

Mr Moss's flirtation with the PLP never materialised into anything serious. In fact, caught in the euphoria of President Barack Obama's change mantra, Mr Moss, along with PLP Candidate Andre Rollins and others, founded the former National Democratic Party (NDP). That too was short lived. Mr Moss said he quickly realised the crew was "spinning" wheels but headed nowhere.

"People want change but they want change within their organisations," said Mr Moss.

Licking his wounds, Mr Moss reconnected with Tommy-T, and the party leader, his old 'boogie man'.

"I likened it to the prodigal son. Because I called Mr Ingraham on a Sunday afternoon and he answered his phone. I said, it's BJ. He said, 'he how you doing?' I said, I was calling to tell you I was thinking about coming back. He said, 'I heard'. I said, I though it necessary to have a talk because of how I parted. He said, 'That is politics. That is water under the bridge. I stand here to welcome you back. If you get problems from anybody, you tell me.' The Hubert Ingraham who I had conjured up in my mind was not the person I was talking to," said Mr Moss.

The third candidate in the race comes from an entirely different background. Chris Mortimer was a young, thriving businessman, minding his own business, when the politics flu infected him. Before turning 30, Mr Mortimer formed an independent movie theatre company, Galleria Cinemas. Two years later, he bought out the existing company in Grand Bahama and three years later he completed the consolidation, buying out RND Cinemas in New Providence. In 2008 he opened the Bennigans Grill and Tavern, a US franchise, at the Mall at Marathon.

In the past, he Mr Mortimer voted for both the FNM and the PLP. When he looked towards the future, with the 2012 general election looming, he felt disillusioned with both parties.

"Unfortunately I did not think having seen what I saw that I could have voted in this election," said Mr Mortimer.

The DNA's change message resonated with the entrepreneur, who believed in the change message; fighting for a better future for Bahamian children.

"I decided that sometimes, if you want those changes to happen, you have to put yourself out there and fight for those things," said Mr Mortimer.

He volunteered for the Sea Breeze constituency, because in Sea Breeze he felt the residents knew him and he knew them.

Although Mr Mortimer currently lives in Yamacraw, and grew up in Marathon, he lived in Sea Breeze in the past, and still has many friends there.

When the boundaries changed, Mr Mortimer's geographical base shifted to Nassau Village, so he went with it.

The stories of these three men paint a fraction of the picture, certainly not enough to determine where to mark my 'X'. But contained in their forays into politics is some insight into the next member of Parliament for Nassau Village.

Mr Mortimer said: "Sun, sand, and sea is not the future of the Bahamas."

Mr Smith said voters nowadays are mercenary, because politicians have basically bred a culture of vote bartering.

There are some people who look indirectly to elections "just to look to pay their mortgage and buy a new car", he said.

Mr Moss said a number of Bahamian women cut off their nose to spite their face by voting against the citizenship question in the referendum, and they are regretting it today.

So just whose future is worth my vote?

• Talkin Sense explores issues of race, culture, politics and identity. Pan-African writer and cultural scholar Noelle Khalila Nicolls is a practising journalist in the Bahamas. Follow her on Twitter @noelle_elleon.