by Rick Lowe
Mr. Bradley Roberts, Chairman of the PLP keeps reminding people that his party has an overwhelming mandate, but on checking the election results at Bahamas Elections, 4,458 more people voted against them than voted in their favour.
According to the data a total of 156,088 people voted. 75,815 cast their ballot for the PLP and 80,273 indicated their support for the opposition candidates.
This would indicate to any reasonable person that the opposition are well represented throughout society and if they (the PLP) are to win them over they need to settle down and get the job of governing done.
And, if the FNM are guilty of the same things people are finding the PLP at fault for today, as Mr. Roberts comments seem to imply, it's irrelevant because the PLP are now in charge of the government.
Finally, continuing to argue as if still in "election mode" does not alter the facts about your mandate; nor does it make people believe you have the ability to correct the country's ills like crime and the economy that you claimed you had all the solutions for.
The burden is now on the shoulders of you and the PLP's team Mr. Roberts. Yes it's heavy, but you wanted the challenge.
Elections are over and the country deserves more than what amounts to nothing more than rhetoric.
Rick…..
This confirms my belief there is a urgent need for new players in the political arena, and that applies to all political partyies, with the likes of Bradley and his party it’s the same as taking your sister to a dance, you at least get to dance, but, that’s about all. Apart from telling voters what they wanted to hear last May, well, as Porky Pig said…..That’s all folks.
Why in the world is Roberts even allowed to open his mouth on behalf of the PLP ? He should be out to pasture with the rest of the dead,out of touch old PLP’s.This only proves to me that the PLP will never change.
Rick, the real issue is that the government of the Bahamas is spending the country on the track to bankruptcy.. They have no overwhelming mandate as in reality they are a minority elected government with the opposition parties gaining the majority vote.. Already the Minister of Foreign Affairs accompanied by other political officials has taken three trips overseas which has accomplished nothing and has cost the Public Treasury hundreds of thousands of dollars to represent some 156 thousand Bahamian voters.. With a proposed budget of 20 million dollars for the Ministry during this fiscal year, the Bahamian taxpayers can look forward to even more international (vacation-like) missions and trips by our galloping Minister of Foreign Affairs.. Not bad for a nation that is economically broke and where unemployment is at record levels, government deficit spending is out of control and the ever growing national debt burden will destroy the country’s credit rating.. Oh well, after all, 75,815 Bahamians voted for a government that has been characterized by weak leadership and is financially out of control.. May the grace of God spare our country from what very well may come..
Actually, the Min of Foreign affairs ought to be “elsewhere” attending these international meetings, given what our Government administrations have agreed to and signed onto in said meetings over the last three administrations.
At least they will have a clue as to why we cannot choose Bahamianization over foreign interests, Must drop duty rates and implement Sales/VAT taxes and income taxes.
The FNM had a mission and were signing on left and right, but keeping it all secret:
The PLP play catch up, lag behind and claim to be for Bahamians.
What really amazes me is the private sector oblivion, and the apparent thinking that “it will never happen”
Where is Civil society?
Our special interests sector is equally oblivious.
Excellent point SOM.
Unfortunately so many in Civil Society, think it is in their “special interest” to “go along to get along”.
As usual they think the status quo can be protected by doing so.
Rick:
Are there sufficient ones out there like us seeing where the country is headed or are they part of the Ostrich flock?
The real issue here is what we can afford to spend and NOT afford to do.. It is a sad fact but the nation is just about broke.. With a $210 million overdraft on the government’s current account, we can NOT afford wasteful spending as we must borrow every month to pay our nation’s current expenditures..
If we were a solvent nation with a surplus current account, international representation at UN and regional conferences and meetings perhaps would be worthwhile.. But given the country’s current financial deficit position that the Bahamas finds itself in, a new posture of restraint and financial prudence is now required.. Today’s reckless deficit spending will lead to a lowering of our national credit rating and then there will be hell to pay.. The debt clock is running out of time and our financial creditability is about to crash..
These nonsensical attempts at calling the PLP government a minority government are simply rephrasings of the “the people are stupid” themes. It is at its very core a dumb, racist theme because of the very clear implication that only the black and uncultured vote for the PLP. When they vote for the FNM they miraculously become geniuses. If the election is over why is this never ending theme still coming up and being repharased? Majoority does not mean 50% + 1. Never did and never will. The PLP has a majority mandate by virtue of the fact that the majority of polled votes were cast in their favour. Adding up all the opposed votes and claiming more people voted against them cannot change that fundamental fact.
Thanks Ken.
If your racist rhetoric wasn’t so egregious it would be laughable.
It’s the same tired argument Mr. Obama’s team uses. If you object to something it’s because your colour differs not because the facts or your fundamental position might speak/be otherwise.
It’s like your thought process is, “if I accuse them of racism, that’s my trump card, so they have no come back”.
Also, if you look at the results from the 2007 election the opposition parties actually tallied some 419 more votes than the FNM, and look how the seats changed this election. Go here to review the results as well: http://nuttonline.com/nol/bahamasgeneralelections/index.html
The majority of votes cast were not in the PLP’s favour as you suggest; they do have the majority of seats though.
You also suggest majority does not mean 50% + 1. Here’s how my dictionary defines majority:
majority |məˈjôrətē, -ˈjär-|
noun ( pl. majorities )
1 the greater number: in the majority of cases all will go smoothly | [ as modifier ] : it was a majority decision.
• the number by which votes for one candidate in an election are more than those for all other candidates combined.
• Brit.the number by which the votes for one party or candidate exceed those of the next in rank.
• a party or group receiving the greater number of votes.
Finally, this blog stands for certain policies and against certain policies, and unlike some of us, when the party we might vote for is in power, we still speak out, whether the government is PLP or FNM.