FRED MITCHELL ON PINDLING HOLIDAY
The following statement was delivered at the National General Council Meeting in support of the resolution to open internal PLP discussions on a national holiday to mark the birthday of Sir Lynden Pindling, the father of the nation. The resolution was approved by the Council:
27 March 2025
My Dear councilors, I would like to thank Tamar Moss Ferguson for the drafting of a resolution and I hope for moving the resolution to support the internal discussions within the PLP about a national holiday in honour of the late first Prime Minister of our country Sir Lynden Pindling.
I have two apologies to give at the outset. One is for not being able to be here tonight because my job requires me to be out of the country. But I am confident that the Deputy Chair Obie Roberts, our Secretary General Barbara Cartwright and Mrs. Moss Ferguson, together with the cadre of younger supporters of this resolution are able to handle it and carry the day.
It is a good exercise in any event because one day, I will not be around at all and it is my view that the party’s processes should survive the absence of us all. The only way that can happen is by practice in our absence.
The second apology comes because the matter got into the public domain by inadvertence. I was speaking at my branch meeting on Monday last and forgot that we were livestreaming and announced to the PLP crowd there what we were planning. I have since explained with regret to the Prime Minister.
I recall when Sir Lynden Pindling was able to get the PLP to agree to move legislation to amend the Industrial Relations Act after the 1977 general election. We had signed a memorandum of understanding with the TUC and the government had agreed to agency shop but it was controversial in the party. I sat next to him as we landed form a flight from Grand Bahama. He told me that the council had just agreed to support the government’s policy to introduce agency shop.
That is the blue print that I am seeking to follow here, that is, to get the party to agree that as a matter of policy, the PLP should pursue the idea of a national holiday or a day of official observance on the birthday of our late Prime Minister and leader.
In Barbados, the birthday of Errol Barrow, their first Prime Minister is a nationally recognized and celebrated. It does not belong to any individual or party but to the nation.
When the Late Sir Henry Taylor founded the PLP in 1953, he explained that one of the reasons was that at the time there was very little public opinion in The Bahamas. He said that the PLP was formed in order to shape public opinion. I start here because it appears that we have forgotten that function and at times we are too reflexive and too defensive. Our legacy is our strongest asset, in my opinion,. You see that there is a concerted effort by the Free National Movement to rewrite the history.
When I was in the Senate, Carl Bethel got up on a point of order to say that Sir Lynden Pindling was not the father of the nation but one of the fathers of the nation. I insisted and insist today that he is the father of the nation. We can so designate this in legislation and regulations while we have the power to do so.
Toni Morrison, the late Nobel Laureate once said that when you have power, you get to name things. So if the PLP does not do it, who will do it? If we do not act now, when will we act?
The immediate practical response to this effort has been from the business community. I got a private message asking me if I were joking. When I said I was serious, the Chamber of Commerce issued a statement saying that this would cost too much money to have a holiday. I do not agree and even if there is a cost, the cost will be marginal and is well worth the return we will get in reviewing and strengthening our history.
In any event, the issue right now is not whether there is a holiday but whether as a matter of policy, the PLP wants to do something more substantive to enshrine Lynden Pindling in our history. I think the answer is yes.
It is my hope therefore that you will support Mrs. Moss Ferguson’s resolution.
I have spoken with the Prime Minister who shares the same public concerns but has kindly agreed that the internal discussion in the party can begin.
I think therefore if the resolution is agreed that a committee ought to be formed with Mrs. Moss Ferguson at its head and others appointed to it after consultation with the Leader of the party. The function of the committee will be to canvas opinion within party organs about how we should further honour Sir Lynden and report back to the council by the fall of this year.
I hope that councilors will see this as an opportunity to make another mark in history and will give their kind support.
Either way, you have my continued thanks for all that you do for the PLP.
May God continue to bless you, bless the PLP and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and thank you.
End