The Tribune

By PACO NUNEZ

Tribune News Editor

UP UNTIL the time of writing – early yesterday morning  – both the government and the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas had maintained their silence on the allegations of victimisation at ZNS

TV.

The Tribune broke the story on Friday, based on interviews with insider sources who said the government is conducting a purge of the

publicly-owned station in an effort to remove those perceived as supporters of the opposition and replace them with faithful cronies.

The claims are: 1)  that six of the channel's best known journalists or producers are being removed from the evening news; 2) that while station chiefs say these employees will be reassigned to the critically important area of non-news "local coverage", at least

some will be sent to a musty, redundant, near forgotten office in the bowels of the corporation; 3) despite protests that the aim of the shake-up is to rejuvenate ZNS' news product with fresh, talented

personalities, aside from a few recycled yes-men, replacements haven't even been found.

In the face of such accusations, one would think the government, or at the very least ZNS management, would come forward with some sort of

explanation.

I'm particularly surprised at newly-appointed corporation chairman Rev Dr William Thompson – a man of the cloth, a former Christian Council

President – thus far mute in the face of claims an institution he oversees does not treat all God's children equally, but rather according to party sympathies.

If this silence is still unbroken at the time you read this, it is reasonable to assume the allegations are justified. Even if they do issue a statement in time for Monday morning, it is fair to ask why it

took three days to respond if the ZNS shake-up is justified and above board.

In any case, the public has already begun to form its verdict. One comment left on www.tribune242.com, captures the general tone of the

response:

"This is why our country so messed up now and going backward instead of forward, just because we have a bunch of vindictive people running our country.

“Hubert was moving the country forward but 'We Believe in Bahamians' is

going to take us back to the stone age in a minute. The PLP is the worst thing for this country, always was, always will be."

This person was not alone in tying the goings on at ZNS to a more widespread, systematic effort to purge opposition faithful from the public service, the axe already having fallen at the Princess Margaret

Hospital, Urban Renewal and in several Family Islands.

And, as if this were not enough, one commenter said BEC staff are now "on pins and needles" about what the future may hold for them as well.

Indeed, the current administration is increasingly in danger of becoming synonymous with pettiness and revenge. And yet the silence persists.

Well almost. After the initial outrage over the changes at Urban Renewal, the PLP did make a few feeble attempts to justify its actions – Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells helpfully offering that it had

something to do with Jesus, new wine and old wineskins.

And, amid the outrage over the situation at ZNS, one or two familiar party apologists pointed out that the FNM retired a whole lot of people from the TV station during its time in office – the point presumably being that victimisation is OK provided everyone's doing

it.

But although the FNM was accused of many things during its tenure, at no point was government viewed as retaliatory and vengeful.

When the former administration sought to deal with overstaffing at ZNS, the cry was lack for concern during hard times for Bahamians in general, not victimisation of PLPs in particular.

And, in every such instance when Hubert Ingraham was Prime Minister, there was always a clear understanding of where the buck stopped.

But where is Mr Christie?

Will he not either justify the actions of his government, or denounce those in his party responsible? Indeed, it is at the top where the silence is most deafening.

This is especially so because eventually, the kind of reputation the PLP is gaining is bound to make international headlines – a worrying

development for any small country, but especially for one so economically dependent on the good opinion of outsiders.

But I suppose Mr Christie is in a bit of a bind. It's difficult to imagine what he could possibly say to justify actions that risk bringing local and international censure down upon the PLP at this particular moment.

Having won the election by a landslide, they are now positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning recovery from a global economic downturn that helped condemn their predecessors.

What's more, they now face an opposition suddenly bereft of its talisman in the retiring Hubert Ingraham, and steered by a relatively inexperienced leadership.

All in all, the future looks bright for the PLP. That is, if they can avoid the pitfalls that brought down the last Christie administration.

And what, according to the post-election analysts hired by the PLP itself, caused that defeat? The scandals that rocked the government in

wave after wave.

So, why on Earth would they set themselves for yet another scandal, this time wearing the ugly, spiteful face of victimisation?

There are two theories.

The first is, this is just how the PLP in particular, but also politicians in the Bahamas in general, have always tended to do things.

In this view, the purges are a knee-jerk reaction by PLP operatives who are merely reverting to type.

The second theory is that in order to secure the election win, certain members of the party had to promise a lot of things to a lot of people, particularly in the form o f government jobs and posts.

In this scenario, the party's campaign slogan, "We Believe in Bahamians" was actually code for: "We believe in those who believe in us."

If this is the case, again, it won't be anything new. The idea that we deserve to get something because we support this party or the other –

or for that matter, simply because we are Bahamian – enjoys widespread acceptance around here.

And yet, of late we've had cause to celebrate four Bahamians who demonstrated to the world what we can do when we take the opposite approach – that of actually earning what you get instead of looking

for a handout or singing for your supper.

Our 4x400 men's relay team conquered the planet on merit alone.

Their MP didn't give them those medals. They didn't trade them for votes. Nor were they snatched away from someone else for petty, vengeful reasons.

Those young men earned their glory with blood, sweat and tears – pure and simple.

The nation watched that historic race on ZNS TV. It was celebrated, discussed and analysed by some of the same individuals who are about to disappear from the evening newscast, allegedly to be replaced by

people chosen on some criteria other than merit.

Over the past few weeks then, our national TV channel has provided us with two potent symbols of diametrically opposed ways of doing things.

It's up to us to decide which road we want to follow into the future.

What do you think?

Email comments or questions to: pnunez@tribunemedia.net, or join the

conversation on www.tribune242.com/opinion/insight/