The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I read in The Tribune that several PLP supporters are unhappy with Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller being selected as their standard bearer over Michael Halkitis, who has been nominated in St Barnabas. Judging from the comments made by these PLPs, Miller has been pretty much AWOL since becoming that constituency’s MP under the Free National Movement’s (FNM) banner in 2017. When he left the FNM in December 2019, I recall reading comments about him being invisible in Golden Isles. I didn’t put too much stock into those comments due to them being made by FNMs who were obviously upset with Miller. Those AWOL accusations, however, now seem to have some merit, due to PLPs echoing the same claims made by disgruntled FNMs in Golden Isles. Apparently, abandoning the unpopular FNM for the PLP has done little in raising his popularity ratings among PLPs in Golden Isles.

With FNMs in that community unhappy with him for leaving their party, and with PLPs still feeling sentimentally attached to Halkitis, the belief by the PLPs in The Tribune article about the possibility of Miller losing seems to be legitimate. What I find disturbing is that the PLPs interviewed admitted in one breath Miller’s ineffectiveness as MP, while stating in the other that they will still vote for him. I commend these PLPs for being candid about Miller’s uninspiring performance as MP. But even they would have to admit that what they said to The Tribune is a dead giveaway. How can you tell me that your MP has been AWOL and then turn around and beg me to vote for him? Miller spoke about the challenges of being an Opposition MP, as opposed to a government MP, who is in a more favorable position to assist people. But Miller had been a government MP for over two and a half years, and a parliamentary secretary – a position one notch below a Cabinet post – for over one year. And yet FNMs and PLPs have still complained about the lack of activities on the ground by his team – months before he had joined the PLP. As for St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright, while he is chairman of Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority, he is still, for all intents and purposes, a backbencher, who has not allowed his Parliamentary status to deter him from delivering maximum service to St Barnabas constituents, whether they’re FNMs or PLPs. The situation with Miller underscores just how unfair the system is.

On the other hand, the Golden Isles incumbent, no doubt, is hoping for his PLP predecessor to unseat the current St Barnabas MP, who has outperformed the other 38 MPs in Parliament by a wide margin, inclusive of Miller. I challenge anyone to compare Cartwright’s MP record with Miller’s. The disparity between the two MPs is so wide, that it would be a great travesty if Cartwright loses and Miller wins. Here we have an AWOL MP hoping to be re-elected on the sole basis of the unpopularity of the FNM, while hoping for one of the greatest performing MPs in the 292 year history of Parliament to lose to his political colleague, Halkitis. You cannot make this baloney up. I have nothing against Halkitis. I think the PLP is doing him a grave disservice by fielding him in St. Barnabas to take on a generational talent in Cartwright. The PLP should’ve placed Halkitis in Golden Isles instead.

If there’s any one MP who deserves to win, it is Cartwright, based on his stellar performance in St Barnabas. If Cartwright isn’t deserving of being re-elected to Parliament, then neither does PLP Leader Philip Brave Davis or FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis. I hope the day comes when Bahamians will start electing candidates on their individual merits, rather than their affiliation to the political party of their choice. Miller should be judged by Golden Isles constituents based on his performance over the past four years, not because he hitched his wagon to the PLP.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama.

February 10, 2021.