It was in 2002 that [then MP for the Kennedy constituency] Dr. Bernard Nottage's Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR) tried to do what Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney and his Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is now trying

DNA must remember the CDR

thenassauguardian editorial



It was in 2002 that a sitting Member of Parliament last tried to do what Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney is now trying to do. Dr. Bernard Nottage broke away from Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) before the 2002 general election and formed the Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR). Dr. Nottage was the then MP for the Kennedy constituency.

We all know what happened to the CDR, which ran in most of the constituencies in 2002: It lost badly.

Out of the 130,536 votes cast across the country in 2002, the CDR won 2,755 votes (2.1 percent). On the Family Islands the CDR did worse. Out of 42,783 votes cast outside of New Providence, the CDR won 404 votes (0.9 percent).

In 1997 when the PLP was nearly wiped out of the Parliament, Dr. Nottage, under the PLP banner, was one of the few members of his party to win a seat. He defeated Free National Movement (FNM) candidate Ashley Cargill by 156 votes. When he severed ties with the PLP and ran outside of its banner five years later, Dr. Nottage was beaten badly by a PLP political newcomer, Kenyatta Gibson. Gibson won 1950 votes and Dr. Nottage 499 votes.

Others who ran as CDRs lost badly in 2002 and won in 2007 once they joined a major party. In Carmichael, Charles Maynard made no impact as a CDR candidate. He won 196 votes and PLP John Carey, the winner, secured 1818 votes. In South Beach, Phenton Neymour won 117 votes for the CDR and PLP candidate Agatha Marcelle, the winner, secured 1838 votes.

Both Neymour and Maynard won seats in the House of Assembly five years later as FNMs. Neymour won South Beach over the PLP by 299 votes, receiving the support of 1919 constituents. Maynard won Golden Isles by 62 votes, attracting the support of 1824 voters.

Dr. Nottage too found the same result when he went back home to the PLP. He won the Bain and Grants Town seat by 774 votes.

Branville McCartney should examine the 2002 and 2007 general elections. He is attempting to do the same thing Dr. Nottage attempted to do. Dr. Nottage and the CDR failed. Bahamians did not go for the new thing then.

We acknowledge that the times are different. Neither the PLP nor FNM is offering a new leader as the PLP did in 2002. However, Bahamians are conservative voters. As a result of the FNM split in 1977 — resulting in the FNM and the Bahamas Democratic Party (BDP) — a group other than the PLP or FNM won a meaningful share of the vote. The BDP was the official opposition in 1977.

Bahamians, based on the results of our recent elections, are not interested in change outside of the major parties. But, as we have said before, this should not stop McCartney from trying. What it should do, however, is moderate his expectations and those of his supporters.

As history has shown via the course of so many politicians, what McCartney is likely doing, consciously or not, is auditioning for a prominent role in one of the major parties. Hubert Ingraham, Perry Christie, Fred Mitchell, Paul Adderley, Sir Orville Turnquest, Dr. Nottage and others have had time in the political wilderness before joining or rejoining either the PLP or FNM and sitting around the Cabinet table. Ingraham and Christie each became prime minister.

So, if the DNA is destined for failure the key for McCartney will be to win his seat. He would then have the option of being absorbed into the PLP or FNM during the next Parliament.

Though his roots are with the FNM, if the DNA is crushed and McCartney gives up on the party he should not rule out joining the PLP. Ingraham, a former PLP chairman, did what he had to do. He joined the FNM and became PM.

Politics is the art of pragmatism. If the PLP loses, Christie will be asked to go. And he might actually go — though no one in the party is powerful enough to make him go. If he leaves, a ‘civil war’ would result in the PLP. Lots of want to be leaders would emerge and few would have the capacity to lead or win a general election. A charismatic McCartney could do well on that side.

Jun 14, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial