BRIAN SEYMOUR WRITES OF A MORTAL POLITICAL DANGER

We are not safe.

“I believe that political scores are settled on Election Day”. Hubert A Ingraham . The maxim of the former Prime Minister was clearly rejected in the Frank Smith extortion trial. Unbridled state power in the hands of novice political leaders threatens the safety and stability of our democracy and is playing with fire. What was even more worrisome for our Bahamian democracy, there was no one around the cabinet table who was man enough to say, end this now.

When a Magistrate publicly rebukes two sitting Cabinet Ministers, in open court, then you know the ministers would have crossed the line and gone too far, in the Frank Smith bribery trial. This, indeed, was a rare occasion where our institutions have been undermined.

This level of misbehaviour exposed would be expected in Putin’s Russia but, not in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The Minnis Administration is on a road, if continued, will not end well. Jailing your political opponents has consequences once the political tide turns.

A 35-4 margin of victory should never be used as license to vanquish your opponents. The cabinet off the Bahamas, for better or worse, is comprised off too many rookies. And, as expected, rookies make rookie mistakes. Doubling down on bad decisions will only make things worse. As Bahamians, we are better than this.