The Business of Governing

There has been talk that Mr. Alvin Smith, longstanding Representative for North Eleuthera is poised to become the next Speaker.

The role of the Speaker has changed during the second half of the 20th Century. Prior to the eras of internal self–government and Independence, the Speaker of the House was the most powerful locally elected official. Bahamian history has had several powerful Speakers over the last decades.

During World War 1 years, Sir Harcourt Malcolm was the Speaker. It is said that he was a very strong leader. When World War 11 was at its height, Sir Kenneth Solomon sat in the Chair; he was followed by Sir Asa H. Pritchard. Many stories emerged regarding the travails between Sir Asa and Sir Milo Butler, the first Bahamian to become Governor – General.

The Speaker, who left an indelible imprint of the governance of The Bahamas as he was the individual responsible for causing majority rule to become a reality, was Sir Alvin R. Braynen. In 1967, there was a deadlock among the two major political parties, and then the United Bahamian Party (UBP) and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) as the general election resulted in each party having the same number of seats in the House. It would take two independent candidates (Sir Randol Fawkes and Sir Alvin) to break the tie. Sir Randol was made Minister of Labour in the Pindling Cabinet while Sir Alvin became the Speaker.

In the colonial years, the British governor was the First Gentleman and the Speaker was the First Commoner. That was colonial life. Today, the Speaker’s role is chiefly to conduct the business of the House of Assembly.

It will be interesting to see whom Mr. Perry G. Christie, Leader of the Opposition, names as his senators. There has been much speculation. One name bandied about is Mrs. Allyson Maynard-Gibson, former Attorney - General in the Christie Government. In every likelihood, someone will be named from Grand Bahama, possibly Ms. Pleasant Bridge water who was narrowly unseated by the Hon. Zhivago Liang, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance. There will probably be some new faces like Hope Strachan and Ricardo Treco as well as some surprises like party chairman, Raynard Rigby.

Another big question is the manner in which Mr. Christie will align his Shadow Cabinet now that Mr. Ingraham has name his Cabinet of 20 Ministers and assigned portfolios to the various ministries, which will be very different from those of the Christie Government. The Ministry, which remains the same, is the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources; the others are styled differently. This will also call for widespread revision of the various ministry letterheads. This will be a costly undertaking.

The configuration of the ministries will call for some tinkering by Mr. Christie; nevertheless, there is enough manpower in the Opposition to mount an effective challenge to the Government.

  The initial exuberance of the election results is waning and life is resuming its normality. FNMs are savouring their victory at the polls while many PLPs are licking their wounds. The Bahamian people will monitor the work of the Ingraham Government closely and gauge its effectiveness. In the final analysis, the Ingraham Government is the government of all the people and it does not matter whether or not one is FNM or PLP.