EDITORIAL: A Christmas party for the party in power

As of Tuesday, December 14, 2021

A NEW twist on the Christmas Carnival saga emerged yesterday – that the request for temporary approval to bring in equipment, apparatus, trailers and supplies for the event came from no less than the Progressive Liberal Party.

With that knowledge in mind, let’s flash back to some of the comments earlier in this debacle.

After a representative of the carnival said that Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis gave them permission to hold the event, Press Secretary Clint Watson dismissed that as “absolute nonsense”.

He went on to say: “The Prime Minister has never spoken about this issue, neither has he been involved in this issue.”

That would be the Prime Minister who is also the leader of the party that requested the approval.

Mr Watson went on to say: “The Prime Minister does not approve carnivals coming into the country.”

Again, it seems the PLP was involved in this process – so why did Mr Watson not avail himself of the opportunity to tell the public how closely involved with the organiser the ruling party was?

Meanwhile, the Health Minister, Dr Michael Darville, was busily saying approval had not been given to date. Then came the news the ministry had rejected the request.

It’s all a bit of a tangled web.

Now, it seems that both the PLP and the FNM have used the carnival as a party fundraiser, although this is not generally known to the public.

Asked yesterday about the letter showing the PLP’s request for approval, party leader Fred Mitchell promptly buried his head in the sand saying it would be “imprudent for me to go any further”.

Former FNM State Minister for Finance Zhivargo Laing said that political parties have partnered with carnival operators in the past.

He said: “The party in power tends to be involved and gets some financial benefit from it, that’s basically what I know. I thought (the financial benefit for a party) could be $200,000 plus, but I think it all depended on the economic circumstances…”

Mr Laing said there was nothing untoward about such a partnership – but if that is the case, why is it not common knowledge?

You have an instance where a foreign company is coming in to host an event that will financially benefit the party in power which is being asked to give its approval. On the face of it, that doesn’t look good. When you add it being kept quiet from the public, it looks even worse.

The party in government shouldn’t really be in the position of organising events to financially benefit itself that it has the final say on whether it goes ahead.

It is hard to imagine a firm line between the party as applicant and those aligned with the party in a position to approve or reject.

Think of what Mr Laing says – that it is the party in power that tends to be involved. Not a single party, not a particular entrepreneur, rather the carnival has become a Christmas pass the parcel for whoever is in charge.

And yet the most curious thing of all given this apparent connection is that the event didn’t get the go-ahead after all. We wonder how Dr Darville’s department’s ruling is being taken by those parts of his party that will now be left out of pocket.

Whatever deal linked the operators to the PLP, neither side will be making any money if the event doesn’t proceed.

In yesterday’s Insight, it was suggested that the government should publish all of the communications in relation to the approval or rejection of the carnival. The revelation that the party in power is involved in bringing the carnival to the country only furthers the need for that transparency.

What was promised in terms of payments to Customs, the price of work permits and so on? We hope too that this foreign company followed all the appropriate US regulations, especially if it has partnered with a political party on this and perhaps other occasions.

The Christmas Carnival situation was already a mess – without clearing everything up, it just might become a scandal.

licks2 2 years, 5 months ago

It is already a scandal. . .for both governments!! Har the hell they could do sucha thing. . .as the government who must regulate the country???

carltonr61 2 years, 5 months ago

Hell has no fury like a mighty, invincible Minnis being slain by little Brave, then rejected by his party.

Thebrutaltruth 2 years, 5 months ago

How deep can we fall?

Thebrutaltruth 2 years, 5 months ago

Is this a joke?

birdiestrachan 2 years, 5 months ago

There is a need to present the facts own up and move on. . The FNM had a carnival with their campaign..

life goes on and there can be a carnival if it is properly controlled.

No need to dodge and hide and allow folks to make up scandals where none exist. after all, they FNM under the bush in the ditch. and the garbage looking for something. to call scandal.

sheeprunner12 2 years, 5 months ago

There are some really deep dirty secrets that 242 public doesn't know ..... This is peeling back the onion of the black political class.

With no campaign finance laws, only God knows what the post-Pindling PLP & FNM have been doing to the chagrin of the public

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 5 months ago

" that it is the party in power that tends to be involved. Not a single party, not a particular entrepreneur, rather the carnival has become a Christmas pass the parcel for whoever is in charge."

i.e. "Shakedown"

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 5 months ago

The biggest eye opener is the number of high profile persons saying they see absolutely no issues with this process. Its like our moral compass has been completely corrupted by years of accepting and being the benefits of corrupt practices. Illegal gaming, contracts

BONEFISH 2 years, 5 months ago

Both major political parties in the Bahamas has partnered with the carnival operators. The last carnival that came here in 2019 was under the auspices of the Free National Movement. People in the know in both major political parties know that.

Political campaigns have become increasingly expensive in the Bahamas. Political candidates in the last election had free breakfasts for voters. Also you have back to school give-aways and christmas give-aways. Nobody is ask where this money comes from. There is no campaign finance laws in the Bahamas. So you don't know the donors, amounts and source of funds.

LastManStanding 2 years, 5 months ago

I cannot understand how anyone can reasonably expect our politicians to draft and implement campaign finance legislation that will do nothing but bring skeletons out of the closet for the Bahamian public to see. Neither the FNM/PLP are willingly going to shoot themselves in the foot, they will only do so if forced by an outside entity.

This is not a new problem either, we have been a pirate's republic since our founding. Whether it was mafia casino money, the Escobars and their coke money, or numbers houses in modern times, Bahamian politicians have repeatedly shown that they are open for business in exchange for a kickback. Like it or not, it is part of our culture and it is highly unlikely that it ever changes.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 5 months ago

when the story broke last week, I said this sounds exactly like the mafia methodology. They charge the businesses in the district they "own" to operate in that district. If you dont pay you dont operate. When "ownership" changes, the new "owners" benefit from the tax. Apparently there was a if you dont pay you dont operate kafufffle in christmas 2017.

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