Retired Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez has warned that political identities are becoming the controlling force within and the country and this could ultimately prove disastrous for the country.

In a sermon given at St. Agnes Parish on Sunday, Archbishop Gomez spoke to the notion of the country being divided along political lines, this in light of the arrest of several former Progressive Liberal Party Cabinet ministers over the past three weeks.

“Unfortunately, we are faced with the sad reality that our political or perceived political association is becoming the primary element in our national identity,” Archbishop Gomez said.

“When partisan political affiliation is allowed to become the controlling factor in our national life we open the door to political domination along partisan divisions which does not serve the common good.”

In his address, he went on to highlight the Royal Bahamas Police Force as an organization in particular that could be suffering from this divide, which as a result could lead to very serious consequences for the country as a whole.

“It threatens equality as a basic human right to be enjoyed by all Bahamians irrespective of political affiliation. It further leads to the politicization of our society and such a society that has become politicized,” Archbishop Gomez said.

“The police force, for example, becomes a divided entity, with divided loyalties and eventually the entire legal and judicial services are adversely impacted all along political party lines.

“This is surely not what we want for our beautiful Bahamaland.  However, if we are not careful at this juncture in our national life, we will open the door to domination of our country by party politics and we will become a politicized country, and we will be the worst for it.

“History is replete with examples of countries destroyed by political domination in which those who are dominated experience exclusion, depravation, marginalization and oppression.”

He then used the example of the genocides that took place in the African country of Rwanda between the Tutsi and the Hutu, as the country was torn apart by political domination that led to the one of the most brutal and savage destruction of human life recorded in recent memory.

Tension has been high between supporters of the PLP and the FNM in light of the recent series of arrests.

Former Labour Minister Shane Gibson was the fourth member of the former Christie administration to be questioned by police since the May 10 general election.

Two others, former PLP Senator Frank Smith and former Minister of the Environment Kenred Dorsett, have been arraigned in Magistrate’s Court for separate matters.

Former Deputy Speaker of the House Dion Smith was also questioned by police and held overnight in late May in connection with an alleged theft probe at the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation.  However, he was released without charge.

Police later said they had no evidence of wrongdoing in that matter.  Mr. Smith was executive chairman of BAIC at the time.