Organization For Responsible Governance Executive Director, Matt Aubry is raising concerns about the tone of the current election campaign.
He recently told ZNS News, “the point is I think unfortunately pushing us away from what the election really is which is an opportunity to think about decisions and things that need to happen in the next five years to put the country is a space where it’s gonna be sustainable and inclusive in opportunity across the board not just for people in the capital, people across the family islands but all those groups that historically don’t get brought to the table.”
There has been several moments captured on video and circulated online that are less than flattering to candidates, political organizations and their surrogates. A billboard questioning Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis’ ability to manage bodily functions was addressed by PLP Chairman, the Hon. Fred Mitchell while speaking at a rally in Bimini over the weekend. He said, “there is a nasty poster which they put up in Nassau today and someone ought to report these people for their criminal behavior to the police and ensure that that nasty poster is taken down.”
The Free National Movement later released a note via social media denying responsibilty for the billboard. It said, “the Free National Movement is aware of viral images displaying ageist and offensive messaging about Prime Minister Davis. This billboard was not printed, sanctioned or approved by our organization, and we condemn its content in its entirety.”
Aubry said leaders must be mindful of the impact of their messaging. “It has an impact on trust. When somebody is looking and trying to understand how this process of governance works. If you see it get nasty and nasty and fights happening and this one saying that and each side is making terrible accusations or information is coming forward about numbers with context it almost incentives you to sit back and kind of see this as a spectator sport instead of taking this seriously, recognizing that your vote matters, that who you choose to represent your constituency is crucial.”
The ORG Executive Director also said that the election season has revealed deficiencies in the system. He said, “we’ve seen a lot of transparency. A lot of numbers, a lot of information on how the government spends its money or how it has spent its money in past administrations and its brought up very quickly and without a lot of context. And so transparency that is, maybe, politically convenient isn’t very valuable. It isn’t very important. It can make people react in one way or another without truly understanding how was that money spent in the interest of the citizens.”
The general election is scheduled to be held on May 12th.
