The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I write in response to some recent comments by Branville McCartney regarding the unlikelihood of an alliance between the DNA and the FNM. However, my message is really for all the leaders of the various opposition forces.

Simply put, it is this: Unite, or be destroyed!

None of you can take the PLP down on your own. It is as plain as day to the rest of us. That is why hardly anyone has registered - we simply don’t see the point. Certainly the government knows it too and they are happily preparing for another five years in office, laughing their heads off at your expense.

And each of you – Hubert Minnis, Branville McCartney, Loretta Butler Turner, John Bostwick, Renard Henfield, Greg Moss, etc. – would know it too if you hadn’t been so blinded by your own hype.

Clear perspective is a very difficult thing to achieve or maintain when you’re involved in front-line politics. For party leaders who surround themselves with boot-lickers and yes-men, it is very easy to mistake the grovelling of your ‘crew’ for the feeling of the public at large.

But the time is late now. You had all better wake up and smell the coffee. If the opposition forces fail to unite before the upcoming general election, they will all be blown away.

You must not allow yourselves to be consumed with a desire to be ‘the man’ or ‘the woman’. You must think about the country. The current disunity in the opposition forces spells disaster for the general public. We simply cannot take another five years of the PLP.

The good news is, unite and you will win without question and there will be a place at the table of governance for all of you. For our sake, opposition leaders, wake up, man-up (or woman-up), and act responsibly!

None of you is God’s gift to The Bahamas and none of you is destined to win alone. It simply will not happen.

Minnis and Co, don’t fool yourselves. The PLP’s litany of failures, errors, embarrassments, indiscretions and dirty tricks does not mean that their considerable support will simply melt away.

You have failed to adequately hold them to account for the past four-plus years, and let’s get real – even if the FNM had wiped the floor with Christie and Co in Parliament, the majority of diehard PLPs still wouldn’t care.

They don’t care about corruption and incompetence, they don’t care about devaluation to ‘junk’ credit status or the disappearing VAT money. All diehard PLPs care about is that THEY got the job, the contract or the handout this time around, and that they will get it again if their party is returned to office.

At least 45% of this population feels that way about the PLP and none of your opposition forces can match that number alone. If Hubert Ingraham couldn’t do it in 2012, there is no chance Minnis will be able to this time around.

Bran and the Rebel 7 will get even less support. If history is anything to go by, it takes about 15–20 years for a political party to have a realistic shot at winning the government.

It took both the PLP and the FNM that long. What on earth would make the DNA, Loretta and Co, the Gatekeepers or any other ‘just reach’ group assume things will be different for them in 2017?

The clear example is the 1987 election, when a critically-wounded PLP managed to scrape across the finish line first – despite widespread anger at years upon years of corruption, victimization and economic stagnation. This happened precisely because of weakness, division and infighting among the opposition forces of that day. And the people were made to wait another five long years for deliverance.

Now, history is about to repeat itself because of the childish, stubborn, pigheadedness of all the current opposition leaders – but this time, it will be much worse.

This time, we cannot afford to sink any lower. This society will simply buckle and collapse under the weight of corruption and fiscal mismanagement that has been heaped on our heads by the current government. We will all be buried and will suffocate to death as a nation.

But the first casualties will be the arrogant leaders of the opposition forces, who the public will blame for their vanity, selfish behaviour and unwillingness to compromise.

You will be to blame and the public will not forget.

So to all the opposition leaders, Mark my words: Unite and you will be victorious. Remain fractured and fight each other at the polls, and you will each be personally responsible for the misery and chaos that is to come.

For heaven’s sake, swallow your pride and cut a deal with each other, before it’s too late!

ROSCINDA

CARTWRIGHT

February 5, 2017.