Gomez Blasts Political Tribalism:
By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:

The head of the Anglican Church in The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos His Grace Archbishop Drexel Gomez last night urged legislation to establish an Ombudsman as a means of stopping the politics of tribalism dead in its tracks and give citizens a proper system of redress from governmental impropriety including victimization.

The archbishop decried the political polarization that has occurred since the May 2 general election, declaring that it had reached new and undesirable heights.

He even claimed that the polarization was posing a threat to the quality of life in The Bahamas.

Both the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party and the ruling Free National Movement had pledged at some point to create an Ombudsman.

"I call upon the leadership of all political parties including the majority and minority parties in Parliament to leave no stone unturned in the urgent quest to reduce the political temperature in the national interest," he told a packed congregation at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Nassau.

The archbishop, who last night delivered his penultimate Synod address, referred to recent claims and denials of political victimization in the public service.

The Opposition Progressive Liberal Party has held a number of political meetings since it was ousted from power in early May, claiming that the FNM had victimized many of its supporters in an action that was tantamount to committing a crime.

In one of his last comments on the highly charged matter, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham challenged the PLP to bring him the names and circumstances of anyone who had claimed to be a victim of such an action, vowing to investigate it.

The FNM government’s decision not to maintain or extend some of the contracts that its predecessors had entered into further exacerbated the controversy.

"While an objective and impartial assessment of the charges and rebuttals would provide some answers to the present questions as they relate to the treatment of certain public servants by the government, what we desperately need as part of our system of government is established legal provisions to respond to the right of the ordinary citizen to seek redress from government action," Archbishop Gomez said.

"The ordinary Bahamian cannot afford the expense of hiring a lawyer to seek such redress or to deal with public complaints about the quality of a myriad of services being delivered by the government and its agents."

The Ombudsman is active in the English speaking Caribbean and in other Commonwealth countries.

"In the event that the legislation is enacted there is hope that the politicization of the criticism, of the workings of government entities would be de-politicized and the trend towards the politics of tribalism halted," the archbishop said.

"Above all else the enactment of such legislation would make ample provision for the empowerment of ordinary citizens and inevitably promote the public interest and the well being of all citizens."

Typically the archbishop’s address spans a whole range of issues of national importance in addition to pastoral and other diocesan matters of concern.

Politics was one of a myriad of matters he dealt with last night in addition to issues like education where he called for a national consensus.

He also urged a plan for free education, and on the issue of crime and violence he cautioned against quick fix solutions.

Archbishop Gomez also renewed his call for campaign finance reform, calling it an urgent necessity.

"If the ability to raise significant financial contributions continues as the determining factor in our elections, such a process will automatically exclude persons and parties who are unable to attract substantial funding," he said.

"In such a situation, democracy is seriously challenged. I also believe that relevant campaign finance reform should include setting limits on individual contributions together with a compulsory declaration of candidates and parties stating the names of the donors and the amounts contributed."

The Anglican Church head said the public is entitled to such information and the principles of transparency and accountability demand it.

23 October 2007