The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Education Minister Desmond Bannister yesterday accused the government of undermining the success of the gender equality referendum through its myopic approach to public education.

Mr Bannister said the Christie-led administration botched a “wonderful opportunity” to bring reform by launching an unfair and undemocratic campaign that did not explore all provisions to allow Bahamians to fully understand the impact of their vote.

He contended that the accompanying amendment to the Status of Children Act would in fact create discrimination and impact constitutional rights negatively.

Adding to the mounting scepticism over the success of the June 7 gender equality referendum, Mr Bannister said a resounding ‘yes’ vote was unlikely.

“People overwhelmingly tell me they’re going to vote against it,” he said. “This government had a wonderful opportunity. In 2002 they said they weren’t against the issues but the process, that they did not see the process being fair. But you have the very same thing, a process put forward that the government is pushing and a group of highly-respected Bahamians want to push an opposition.

“Why would any government finance a ‘yes’ vote in the manner this government is doing, and not provide the mechanism by which the other side can be heard? You see billboards, commercials, people on the radio saying that they are being paid. If we want a real education campaign we ought to provide an opportunity for all sides to be heard.

“In that respect it’s unfair what the government has done. They’re pushing the ‘yes’ vote to the detriment of public education and a deepening of democracy.”

Several campaigns against the June 7 referendum have made requests to the government for funding but were not acknowledged. Last month, Save Our Bahamas - the group that opposed the 2013 gambling referendum - submitted a letter to Mr Christie, requesting initial seed funding of $100,000 for its campaign.

Mr Bannister said: “The issues before the Bahamian people, amending the Constitution, is not something you take lightly. You have a mature group that have opposed. They asked the government in a mature manner to voice their views through government assistance and they are not afforded that respect. I think when you have a mature democracy, you pull them in and say we’re spending this much on a ‘yes’ campaign, now we can’t give you this much but here is what we can do.”

Mr Bannister declined to give his personal stance on the referendum bills. However, he took issue with the Status of Children Amendment Bill, a provision that limits the type of evidence to DNA that can be used to prove that an unmarried Bahamian is the father of a child. The bill was passed in Parliament along with the four Constitutional Amendment Bills.

Mr Bannister criticised the inclusion of ministerial discretion that would ultimately make the final determination on fatherhood from DNA evidence.

“In the Ingraham Cabinet,” he said, “if you look at legislation passed, ministerial discretion was never a part of legislation. In other words the minister was not given discretion to discriminate against people.

“They put a clause that says the minister shall look at evidence and make a determination. DNA is a science, if there is 99.9 per cent, it’s highly probability. Between 0 and 99 per cent is inconclusive. What they should have done is say if there is DNA evidence matching 99.9 per cent then the person is considered the father. What we have now the minister can decide whether you are the father, that’s wrong.

“That has to be amended because if it passes that will take away a right granted by the Constitution. We have to look at the broader provisions, even if the amendment passes, and based on what I’ve seen it doesn’t seem like it’s going to pass. These are provisions that will negatively impact Bahamians.”