A Message From MP McCartney
...That all elected officials may respond to the needs of their community and serve the common good – we pray to the Lord – Lord hear our prayer.
We are so very fortunate to be blessed by God with such a beautiful country and, indeed, for the most part, beautiful, kind, generous and God fearing people. I, just like so many other persons, am convinced that there is no other place in this world like the Bahamas! But what are we doing or not doing to our beloved country? Are we settling for mediocrity and accepting it as the best we have?
Are we letting politics get in the way? I have no doubt that The Bahamas ought to be more than a “Little Switzerland” in the Atlantic, but are we doing our part?
A few weeks ago, while at church, I listened intently to the intercessory prayer – “that all elected officials may respond to the needs of their community and serve the common good – we pray to the Lord – Lord hear our prayer”. This intercessory stuck in my mind and I wondered if our elected officials, including me, respond to the needs of their community. Now I take that to mean the community of the Bahamas and its welfare. For the most part, I think we respond, but in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. In my humble view, I think that we have become so polarized/political/partisan that we lose sight of what is the “common good” of the community; what is indeed the common good of The Bahamas and the Bahamian people. We tend to put PLP and the FNM and their respective colours before the people of the Bahamas. This should not be! We should be at a stage where we have moved beyond petty politics.
Now do not get me wrong, there is a time and a place for politics, but the interest and the welfare of the Bahamian people must be priority number one! I am not sure we, as politicians, appreciate this notion.
In Bamboo Town, my theme colour is the olive green – not red and white,not yellow, but the olive green. That colour signifies that I am extending the olive branch to all members of my constituency, inclusive of – FNMs, PLPs and ABCs. You see, if I were to have the FNM’s colours, the odds are, only the FNMs will participate in the many programs we have in the community. What then happens to those who are not FNM or those who do not vote, perhaps became of religious or other reasons? The idea, put simply, is for ALL to participate! It does not matter to me what political persuasion you are. I am the representative for all and my aim is for the common good. As a result, I have had the good fortune of persons of different political persuasions, and quite pleasantly surprisingly persons who do not participate in the political process for one reason or the other, join and assist in programs that we have in Bamboo Town. That is because we are about community not politics.
I do pray to the Almighty that we do not become like some of our neighbouring countries to the south where violence is the order of the day when it comes to politics. Let us not follow in their footsteps.
In my resignation statement, I said that I fear that we are going in the wrong direction politically. This is what I meant. It is time that we respond to the needs of our respective communities and serve the common good – Lord hear our prayer.
Taken from: REPRESENT!
Your voice in Bamboo Town
Vol. 1 Issue 15
January 2011 Edition
Bahamas Blog International
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.