(EDITOR’S NOTE: This excellent NATIONAL REVIEW commentary, published in today’s Nassau Guardian, was written by Candia Dames, Executive Editor of The Guardian. Candia has a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Clarke University in Atlanta and Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland’s School of Journalism.)
NASSAU, Bahamas, August 4, 2019 — The latest COVID-19 surge may have put off the prime minister’s reported plan to call an election this month and led to a never before seen protocol to govern political campaigning, but we suspect the various political groupings will continue their very aggressive efforts in the coming weeks to win over voters.
In the absence of political rallies – which traditionally have drawn large crowds of enthusiasts and have been a hallmark feature of the Bahamian political season – the major political parties are still expected to spend top dollar on political advertising with the governing Free National Movement (FNM) attempting to portray Dr. Hubert Minnis as a strong and decisive leader in these unprecedented times.
The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), meanwhile, is pushing the narrative of failed leadership, which it insists has worsened the pandemic and driven large numbers of Bahamians near the poverty line, if not into poverty altogether.
Both parties’ advertising also has a familiar theme: That of corruption.
It was thus interesting to hear that attorneys for Philip Brave Davis, the PLP leader, filed a complaint last month with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) alleging in part that since July 12, 2021 and continuing, broadcast political advertisements on multiple Cable TV channels and other media platforms defamed Davis.
As a result of the complaint, URCA on July 22 issued an interim order mandating that Cable immediately cease and desist from broadcasting the advertisement regarding Davis and the PLP until further notified in writing. Emphasis here is on the word “interim”.
The ad Davis’ lawyers complained about stated that during his last time in power, the murder rate hit record highs, there were five years of zero or negative economic growth and the PLP administration drifted from scandal to scandal.
Was any of this true?
The current murder record (146 murders) was set in 2015 during the Christie administration when Davis was the deputy prime minister.
We all know that the last time he was in opposition, Davis, too, had politicized murders as the PLP erected those infamous murder posters. See full NATIONAL REVIEW commentary in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/playing-dirty/?fbclid=IwAR0ttUbWdAdeGvrVcQWuFLpl5f4Wih1FycAe36oVjuqD4lcpAkcjvdEQ2bw
