Haitian President Michel Martelly’s encouragement to Haitian-Bahamians to vote in a bloc for the party that best serves their interests in the upcoming general election in The Bahamas has sparked outrage among Bahamians

Outrage at Haitian leader’s remarks

By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
taneka@nasguard.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

Haitian President Michel Martelly’s encouragement to Haitian-Bahamians to vote in a bloc for the party that best serves their interests sparked outrage yesterday from political observers, who called the comments ‘insulting’ interference in the country’s political system.

Some members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), the Free National Movement (FNM) and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) said Martelly’s comments were inappropriate.   Some observers also said they were ill-timed, considering the fact that the next election is so close.

It was also suggested by some yesterday that newly-regularized Bahamians might heed Martelly’s advice and be inclined to vote for the FNM.

“I thought it was an insult to the Bahamian people that a foreigner would come here and instruct Bahamian citizens to vote one way or the other,” said PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts.

Roberts, who was briefly a former immigration minister in the Christie administration, pointed out that only Bahamian citizens can vote in elections.  He said they should therefore vote for the party that best serves the country, not a particular sect or group.

His sentiments in this regard were echoed by Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell and former PLP MP and senator Philip Galanis.

“People vote for their best interests, they don’t in my view vote as a bloc.   Every Bahamian who is voting will vote for the party that is in the best interest of The Bahamas,” said Mitchell.

He said, however, that the PLP was assured by the Haitian Embassy that the comments were not meant to be inflammatory.

However, Galanis said Haitian-Bahamians who were eligible for citizenship and regularized by the government over the past five years may see Martelly’s words as an endorsement of the FNM.

“It was totally inappropriate for him to make those statements in the run-up to the next election because there were so many persons who just received citizenship by the FNM, and they may take that as [a cue to say] that’s who they should vote for,” said Galanis.

The government granted citizenship to nearly 2,600 people in the four-and-a-half years it has been in power, Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette revealed earlier this week, but he did not indicate how many were of Haitian descent.

Yesterday, the Democratic National Alliance said Martelly’s comments were not suitable considering the heightened political season.

DNA Leader Branville McCartney said the president’s remarks were a “direct attack on Bahamian democracy and all Bahamians — those of foreign descent or otherwise — who uphold the ideals of the nation and their right to vote for whichever political party they see fit”.

“Haiti’s president should respect the sovereignty of our democracy,” McCartney added in a statement yesterday.

FNM Chairman Carl Bethel, who did not speak for the party but gave his personal views, said Martelly’s political statements shocked him.

“Non-Bahamians cannot dictate what goes on in The Bahamas, whether they visit or live here,” said Bethel, who stressed that this comment did not refer to President Martelly.

He also shot down speculation that Martelly’s visit was orchestrated by the FNM to gain votes from the Haitian-Bahamian community.

“The FNM is a Bahamian party whose first interest is the interest of The Bahamas,” he said.

During his brief visit to The Bahamas, President Martelly urged Haitian-Bahamians with the right to vote to support the party that could serve and protect their interests.

He made the statements during a meeting with Haitians and people of Haitian descent at Church of God on Joe Farrington Road on Tuesday night, and repeated them on Wednesday.

Last year, PLP Leader Perry Christie said successive governments have been hesitant to take a strong stance against the illegal Haitian immigrant problem because they fear a voting bloc of Haitian-Bahamians.

“Once governments become frightened of the numbers of Haitians who have become Bahamians and who can vote... they have become an important voting bloc.  So somewhere along the line the purity of the commitment to protect The Bahamas and its territorial waters is sort of merged to the fear of doing things that might cause you to lose an election,” Christie said.

"...We allowed ourselves to be influenced too much by their presence as opposed to using our own commitment to convince and satisfy them that they are Bahamians, accepted as Bahamians, and that the programs that we are offering them to close down illegal immigrants coming into our country are programs as much in their favor as in any other Bahamian's favor.”

Feb 10, 2012

thenassauguardian

The fringe political party Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is gravely concerned that the governing Free National Movement (FNM) would allow a presidential visit from Haiti's president, Michel Martelly during a heightened political season ...where general election is on the horizon in The Bahamas

DNA Concerned over Haiti President's Visit

by The Official Democratic National Alliance

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is gravely concerned that the present administration would allow a presidential visit from a foreign country during a heightened political season.

While the DNA believes that Haiti president, Michel Martelly should be welcomed to The Bahamas and it offers an opportunity to strengthen international relations, this was too sensitive of a time to do so.

As to President Martelly’s comments, the DNA find them to be inappropriate, not only because of the political season, but it also seemed to be a shameful political ploy by the Free National Movement to manipulate the process.

DNA leader, Branville McCartney said this unfortunate political tactic is a direct attack on Bahamian democracy, the victims being all Bahamians—those of foreign decent or otherwise, who uphold the ideals of the nation and their right to vote for whichever political party they see fit.

“As the DNA recognizes, moreso now after this disturbing visit, that the country’s leadership is in dire need of reform; we also recognize that Haiti’s president should respect the sovereignty of our democracy,” Mr. McCartney said.

The DNA found President Martelly’s careless use of the word “riot” as inflammatory and to insinuate that Bahamians of Haitian decent are being abused is misleading.

Mr. McCartney noted that The Bahamas has always been accommodating to our Haitian neighbours, so when he speaks of forming a pact, he should have been mindful that all voters are Bahamian. In other words, if one is eligible to vote, their vote should reflect Bahamian interests and not that of another country.

“Haiti’s president has a mammoth task of redeveloping his country and that does not begin in The Bahamas,” he said.

9 February 2012

Bahamas: ...the attitudes of most Bahamians towards Haitians is one of resentment, suspicion or outright hostility

The Haitian problem

IAN G. STRACHAN
thenassauguardian
Nassau, The Bahamas



On Friday May 20th , 2011 a group of Bahamian and Haitian-Bahamian artists, hosted an art exhibit and mini musical concert in Nassau at Jacaranda House, called “Nostrum Fabula” (Latin for “Our Story”). The event was under the patronage of the Bahamian Governor General and the Haitian Ambassador to The Bahamas; the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture also attended. Leading broadcast journalist, Jerome Sawyer, served as the master of ceremonies. It featured Bahamian folk musical artists like the Region Bells and the disc jockey alternated between Kompa and Goombay music.

An untitled art piece by Bernard Petit-Homme, a 26 year old Bahamian born of Haitian immigrant parents, served as the cover art for invitations and promotional material for the event. The image features the Bahamian and Haitian flags. The flags make up the torso of a man who is both black and white; he is silhouetted by the orange and yellow sun; his arms stretch across blue waters of the sea. In the painting Petit-Homme seeks to reconcile his Haitian and Bahamian selves and acknowledge the mixed bloodlines of many as a consequence of slavery. He crafts a celebratory message of unity and brotherhood; a message that ran like a thread throughout the entire event, at which the Bahamian and Haitian national anthems were played.

However, the spirit of unity, tolerance, mutual understanding and respect expressed at the exhibit are not shared by everyone in The Bahamas. Indeed, it is safe to say, that despite their proximity, their many shared cultural practices and a long history of relations between Haiti and The Bahamas, the attitudes of most Bahamians towards Haitians is one of resentment, suspicion or outright hostility.

The Haitian “problem” in The Bahamas is shaped by a number of factors. Haitian migrants are a crucial source of cheap, reliable, motivated labor, particularly in the agricultural sector. Increasingly, however, as the middle class shrinks and the ranks of the Bahamian working poor swell, there is growing resentment toward Haitian immigrants and their children because they are now competing for jobs deemed above their social station. Where once a Haitain only worked as a gardener, farmer, grounds keeper or “handyman”—work young Bahamian men have looked down on for the past forty years—they are now working at gas stations, in hardware stores, and gaining employment as masons and carpenters, jobs Bahamian men have dominated. Many a Bahamian contractor prefers Haitian immigrant labor to Bahamian, not simply because it is cheaper, but because it is better.

There is also the real and perceived strain on national services, such as education and health care, created by the immigrant influx. And there are national security concerns, fed by the fear of Haitian immigrants “violent” people. Added to this are Bahamians’ fears of cultural erasure, and political/economic displacement due to the perception of Haitians as a lurking enemy intent on “taking over.” All of these factors make the Haitian-Bahamian encounter a vexed one; one that reveals class, color and ethnic fault lines.

The often bigoted public discourse in newspapers, on radio and television speak to the volatility of the situation. For a time I would cut out the more virulent letters to the editor I came across in the papers. One of the most memorable was entitled “Haitians Attract Flies.” The most recent was blaming the devastating quake in Haiti on devil worship. I grew up with certain received notions about the Haitian people; they have been the butt of jokes my whole life. There was no greater insult among us as children than to be called Highshun. There is a stigma attached to Haitian origins; a social/ethnic blemish that many young people try to hide because of the stinging ridicule and contempt heaped on them through no fault of their own. I remember a young man at COB who insisted on Anglicizing his name in my class and others who tolerated all sorts of mispronunciations because they at least didn’t sound French.

In this uneasy climate, many Bahamian artists attempt to resist the stereotyping of the Haitian people. Artists such as John Cox, John Beadle, Jackson Petit-Homme, Maxwell Taylor, and Eric Ellis, and writers such as myself, Telcine Turner-Rolle, Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, Keith Russell, Nicolette Bethel and others have attempted to prick the conscience of Bahamian society. My play “Diary of Souls” was a fictional treatment of a true event; the tragic death of Haitian refugees at sea in the Exumas in 1990. Sadly, these tragedies have been happening for a very, very long time and still happen.

At stake is the very notion of what it means to be a Bahamian. Haitian immigration challenges the core values/ideals of the Bahamian state, putting the people and the nation on trial, and calling international attention to the question of just how committed The Bahamas is to freedom, equality and justice for all.

But we are an itsy bitsy country. We cannot possibly be expected to have an open door policy. We have the right to protect our borders from illegal entry. We are not the continental United States or Canada; we are specs on the world map. And even in a nation the size of the US, illegal immigration from Mexico and further south is the source of heated debate and conflict.

But though we may protect our borders, Haitian immigrants and those of Haitian descent are here to stay. We may not all want them here but all need them here. We need them, as we have always needed immigrants, to help build our country by doing the things we can’t or won’t do. It makes no sense to drive a wedge between them and us, to create a hated, disenfranchised underclass.

The reality is that our citizenship laws ensure the imperilment, not the protection, of The Bahamas. Disenfranchising a person for 18 years or more, while they await entry into the exclusive club of Bahamian citizenship, creates frustration, shame, anger, alienation and bitterness in the hearts thousands of young people who know, have, and want no other home but this one. It’s simply inhumane, short sighted and stupid.

If we cannot bring ourselves to make citizenship automatic upon one’s birth for all those born here, we should at least amend the constitution to lower the eligibility date. Why not 10 years old instead of 18? Avoid creating frustrated stateless teens that can’t get scholarships, can’t fully participate in national life.

Of course, there’s always the other option. While picking up my son from school, a gentleman who was also waiting for a child, told me he had the solution to the Haitian problem. “I would blow their boats right out of the water when we find them.” And then he proceeded to carefully lovingly take a child’s hand and lead her out of the school yard.

IAN STRACHAN is Associate Professor at the College of The Bahamas.

Jun 02, 2011

thenassauguardian