The Tribune

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance leader Branville McCartney, in an interview with The Tribune, explained that he had resigned his Senate seat to which he was appointed by Official Opposition Leader Loretta Butler-Turner because it has become a distraction to his party.

He criticised Mrs Butler-Turner for not having a political plan in moving forward. To be successful in politics, he said, she must “have a plan and stop winging it.”

After all of this confusion and talk of plans, we would now like to know what Mr McCartney’s political plan is. Although his party won no seats in the 2012 election, it is agreed that it was the cause of the FNM being unseated by the PLP, leading to the confusion about which Bahamians today complain.

Today, thinking Bahamians believe that the only way to rid this country of the present government, which is surrounded by incompetence and failure, is to present a united opposition. In other words Bahamians of whatever political stripe should come together to defeat the present government and start – although faced with a near empty Treasury – at least with new plans for survival - and eventual success.

And so it seemed that reality was dawning in the two competing Opposition camps when Mrs Butler-Turner and Mr McCartney at last sat down to talk.

What came out of that meeting was that Mrs Butler-Turner, newly appointed Opposition Leader in the House, appointed Mr McCartney as opposition leader for business in the Senate.

At that time, Mrs Butler-Turner said Mr McCartney’s appointment was the result of “collaboration” between the two to rid the country of the Progressive Liberal Party in the next general election. That decision met general public applause. At last sense was starting to dawn between the two main rivals, and hope for a future was rekindled for many very concerned Bahamians.

In one of her later public pronouncements, Mrs Butler-Turner, enthusiastically announced that she and Mr McCartney had formed a “powerful coalition.” On hearing this Mr McCartney crumbled and resigned his Senate seat. The political honeymoon was over before it had even begun.

According to Mr McCartney, Mrs Butler-Turner lacks a plan. What we would now like to know: What was Mr McCartney’s plan if it was not to have a working coalition with the FNM to defeat the PLP in the 2017 election? This did not mean that either side would lose their political identity, it just meant that as separate entities they would work together on one important project. Surely, Mr McCartney, a lawyer, understands a partnership, as distinct from ownership.

It suggests that Mr McCartney came to the negotiating table with a separate, but undisclosed strategy.

According to Wikipedia, a “coalition government is defined as a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.”

Really Mr McCartney has us completely confused – what was his plan when he accepted an FNM Senate seat? Why did he accept it? Was it because he believed — as many of his detractors have said — that he must at all times be the leader? Doesn’t he know that one-man rule went out with Lynden Pindling? Doesn’t he know that the PLP have lost favour because they have ignored the wishes of the people?

As the prime minister stood yesterday afternoon, a forlorn figure watching a community dump burning again, did he see all of his many dreams and ambitions for his country going up in smoke? Did he think of Bahamians soon going to the polls to decide on his party’s many broken promises — crime out of control, unemployment rising, even more threatened by Baha Mar’s uncertainty of an opening date — a government reduced by Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency to “junk status”?

Mr Christie tried to push aside Standard & Poor’s assessment, by saying his government would be saved by the soon to be opened Baha Mar. However, by the news in today’s Tribune, the presumed new owners are already playing dice with opening dates. Is their Chinese construction company giving them the same turnaround that it gave Baha Mar’s developer by not being able to complete on time?

Whatever the answer. The PLP has failed on every promise.

Now it is time for Mr McCartney to disclose his plan if it was not to join opposition forces to make certain that this country will not be saddled with a failed PLP for another five years. It is now time to unsaddle this political horse and put it out to pasture - with or without Mr McCartney.

It is now time for all opposition forces — who sincerely want the best for their country ­— to join hands in this worthwhile cause.