bahamianpride
05-16-07, - 02:53 PM
16th May
Civil Rights Abuses
http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=131&a=12613
The recently dethroned prime minister of The Bahamas, the Honourable Perry G. Christie of the Progressive Liberal Party, was very fond of saying that our nation is the greatest democracy on the planet, and it just might be. We hardly think so however, because we seem to defy basic principles of democracy time and time again, both in words and action. The recent general elections and the weeks preceding should cause us to question this embellished description, as well as how our government has functioned through the years.
Political theorists would describe modern democracy as a system of government in which the power to make decisions on questions of public policy and the exercise of supervisory control of the state’s executive and administrative machinery to be vested in a body of representatives. They are not appointed by God or any particular religious group. They are freely and equally chosen by all normal, mature members of the citizens of the state, and as freely elected representatives they are committed to the protection of the common good.
Democracy therefore, is a form of government that is committed to creating and protecting the kind of environment in which every citizen is able to pursue principles of life, liberty and happiness to the fullest. It is not, as Schmandt and Steinbicker emphatically state in their book, Fundamentals of Government, "a ‘cult of incompetence’ paying worship to a lazy, incapable, mediocre humanity". It is, rather, a way of life in which "the protection of individual rights, the recognition of basic freedoms, and the opportunity for the development of human personality" are of paramount concern.
In our democracy we have observed and heard of many instances where individuals purporting to act on behalf of the government and the government itself breaching these principles by pursuing policies of putting party and special interest groups before the needs and wishes of the common good. How often have we heard the expression that God gave this land to the PLPs? In many instances the government seemed overly reliant on the advice and guidance of a certain segment of the church, which in turn exercised undue influence on freedom of worship, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. As a matter of fact a religious leader was reputed to have ordered his church members to vote at his command or remove themselves from his church. This was clearly an abuse of their civil rights.
Prior to election day the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, a public corporation that operates the national television and several radio stations, saw fit to pose as propaganda mouthpieces for the then governing political party to the disadvantage of the opposition parties and the public in general. The public was being manipulated to canonise the governing party and demonise the others. Whoever was responsible clearly breached principles of justice that say all persons are equal in a democracy. In their efforts to so manipulate information, they were diminishing the ability of the public to freely choose their government.
How the government itself handled the dissolution of parliament and the setting of the election date clearly disenfranchised some citizens of their right to participate in the process of freely choosing their government. On the day on which parliament was dissolved citizens were registering to elect a new government but they were disqualified because there is no set date for such elections. The prime minister determines a date to his party’s advantage.
Prior to, during and after the recent general elections there were all sorts of allegations of intimidation and frustration of voters in their efforts to freely elect their government. In modern democracies of worth, these allegations would be taken very seriously by the national government, which would investigate to see if the civil rights of citizens were abused. Unfortunately the ethical level of governance in our country and the low level of civic respect for citizens accept these attitudes and behaviour as normal and justified politics. As a result civil rights abuses go unchecked not only at election time but throughout the year; yet we dare to call our homeland the greatest little democracy on the planet.
Now that a new government has been installed for the next five years, it is our hope and prayer that we could get back on track to becoming the kind of democracy that reflects excellence with accountability to the people.
Email comments to: vlferg@batelnet.bs
Civil Rights Abuses
http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=131&a=12613
The recently dethroned prime minister of The Bahamas, the Honourable Perry G. Christie of the Progressive Liberal Party, was very fond of saying that our nation is the greatest democracy on the planet, and it just might be. We hardly think so however, because we seem to defy basic principles of democracy time and time again, both in words and action. The recent general elections and the weeks preceding should cause us to question this embellished description, as well as how our government has functioned through the years.
Political theorists would describe modern democracy as a system of government in which the power to make decisions on questions of public policy and the exercise of supervisory control of the state’s executive and administrative machinery to be vested in a body of representatives. They are not appointed by God or any particular religious group. They are freely and equally chosen by all normal, mature members of the citizens of the state, and as freely elected representatives they are committed to the protection of the common good.
Democracy therefore, is a form of government that is committed to creating and protecting the kind of environment in which every citizen is able to pursue principles of life, liberty and happiness to the fullest. It is not, as Schmandt and Steinbicker emphatically state in their book, Fundamentals of Government, "a ‘cult of incompetence’ paying worship to a lazy, incapable, mediocre humanity". It is, rather, a way of life in which "the protection of individual rights, the recognition of basic freedoms, and the opportunity for the development of human personality" are of paramount concern.
In our democracy we have observed and heard of many instances where individuals purporting to act on behalf of the government and the government itself breaching these principles by pursuing policies of putting party and special interest groups before the needs and wishes of the common good. How often have we heard the expression that God gave this land to the PLPs? In many instances the government seemed overly reliant on the advice and guidance of a certain segment of the church, which in turn exercised undue influence on freedom of worship, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. As a matter of fact a religious leader was reputed to have ordered his church members to vote at his command or remove themselves from his church. This was clearly an abuse of their civil rights.
Prior to election day the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, a public corporation that operates the national television and several radio stations, saw fit to pose as propaganda mouthpieces for the then governing political party to the disadvantage of the opposition parties and the public in general. The public was being manipulated to canonise the governing party and demonise the others. Whoever was responsible clearly breached principles of justice that say all persons are equal in a democracy. In their efforts to so manipulate information, they were diminishing the ability of the public to freely choose their government.
How the government itself handled the dissolution of parliament and the setting of the election date clearly disenfranchised some citizens of their right to participate in the process of freely choosing their government. On the day on which parliament was dissolved citizens were registering to elect a new government but they were disqualified because there is no set date for such elections. The prime minister determines a date to his party’s advantage.
Prior to, during and after the recent general elections there were all sorts of allegations of intimidation and frustration of voters in their efforts to freely elect their government. In modern democracies of worth, these allegations would be taken very seriously by the national government, which would investigate to see if the civil rights of citizens were abused. Unfortunately the ethical level of governance in our country and the low level of civic respect for citizens accept these attitudes and behaviour as normal and justified politics. As a result civil rights abuses go unchecked not only at election time but throughout the year; yet we dare to call our homeland the greatest little democracy on the planet.
Now that a new government has been installed for the next five years, it is our hope and prayer that we could get back on track to becoming the kind of democracy that reflects excellence with accountability to the people.
Email comments to: vlferg@batelnet.bs