Playing dirty

The latest COVID-19 surge may have put off the prime minister’s reported plan to call an election this month and led to a never before seen protocol to govern political campaigning, but we suspect the various political groupings will continue their very aggressive efforts in the coming weeks to win over voters.

In the absence of political rallies – which traditionally have drawn large crowds of enthusiasts and have been a hallmark feature of the Bahamian political season – the major political parties are still expected to spend top dollar on political advertising with the governing Free National Movement (FNM) attempting to portray Dr. Hubert Minnis as a strong and decisive leader in these unprecedented times.

The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), meanwhile, is pushing the narrative of failed leadership, which it insists has worsened the pandemic and driven large numbers of Bahamians near the poverty line, if not into poverty altogether.

Both parties’ advertising also has a familiar theme: That of corruption.

It was thus interesting to hear that attorneys for Philip Brave Davis, the PLP leader, filed a complaint last month with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) alleging in part that since July 12, 2021 and continuing, broadcast political advertisements on multiple Cable TV channels and other media platforms defamed Davis.

As a result of the complaint, URCA on July 22 issued an interim order mandating that Cable immediately cease and desist from broadcasting the advertisement regarding Davis and the PLP until further notified in writing. Emphasis here is on the word “interim”.

The ad Davis’ lawyers complained about stated that during his last time in power, the murder rate hit record highs, there were five years of zero or negative economic growth and the PLP administration drifted from scandal to scandal.

Was any of this true?

The current murder record (146 murders) was set in 2015 during the Christie administration when Davis was the deputy prime minister.

We all know that the last time he was in opposition, Davis, too, had politicized murders as the PLP erected those infamous murder posters.

Under the last Christie administration, there was essentially no real economic growth if one were to average the five years the PLP was in office.

The International Monetary Fund observed in October 2017, five months after Minnis and the FNM assumed office, that, “A stronger US economy and the opening of a mega resort are expected to lift real GDP growth to 1 3/4 percent this year and 2 1/2 percent in 2018, but potential growth remains low, reflecting structural impediments. A new administration – in office since mid-May – has pledged a strong commitment to revive growth and restore fiscal accountability and discipline.”

Regarding the FNM’s other claim in the ad in question, it is an irrefutable fact that the PLP in office under Christie drifted from scandal to scandal. We need not rehash them.

So, what really did Davis take issue with then?

The FNM ad also said that “for Brave, nothing has changed, no new ideas, no solutions. His economic plan, slammed by the media with key points largely recycled, unfulfilled promises …”

That all seemed fair enough. None of that presents any possible defamation issue.

We suppose what Davis and his lawyers took issue with was the FNM “corruption” narrative also being pushed in that advertisement, which, although discontinued by Cable Bahamas, is still being run by the FNM on Facebook, a space not regulated by URCA, and which is also being used by the PLP for its attack ads.

In its interim order, URCA said the conduct by Cable Bahamas Limited and Be Alive may be in breach of Paragraph 6.8(1) and 6.6 of its Code of Practice for Content Regulation.

Paragraph 6.8(1) of the code states: “While a potential advertisement or political broadcast may oppose a political party or candidate, it may not include material which defames or slanders a political party or candidate.”

Paragraph 6.6 states: “Licensees shall clearly identify all political advertisements (where possible at the beginning and automatically at the end) and political broadcasts (at the beginning, periodically throughout and automatically at the end) as a political advertisement or political broadcast on behalf of a specified candidate, political party or other person or entity and clearly indicate that a specified candidate, political party or other person or entity has authorized and paid for the political advertisement or political broadcast.”

The FNM ad that is the subject of the interim URCA order ran with the tag line “paid for by the Free National Movement”.

Where the ad might be problematic is that it speaks of “politicians who serve themselves at our expense”.

The FNM made a specific claim about the PLP leader, which could be viewed by URCA as defamatory and thus a breach of its code.

Again, this is a continuation of the strategy that worked for the FNM in 2017 when it successfully portrayed the Christie administration as “corrupt” in the minds of many voters, who literally believed that PLP politicians were lining their own pockets and that they had literally stolen the value-added tax money. 

It did not matter to many voters that the FNM did not present any actual proof of such. The perception was enough for voters to chase the former administration out of office.

Indeed, an independently conducted post-election loss study commissioned by the leadership of the PLP identified corruption perceptions as a major reason for the PLP’s defeat in 2017.

Minnis came to office promising to deal with “corrupt” PLPs, but so far, two corruption cases brought against former PLP parliamentarians have resulted in acquittals and great embarrassment to the current administration. The third case – the one against former Minister Kenred Dorsett – has not yet been tried more than three years after he was charged.

All will be aware that no claims or charges were brought against the PLP leader – current or former – and voters ought not buy into unsubstantiated claims now, whether in political advertisements or in any other FNM messaging.

Notwithstanding its lack of success in prosecuting former PLP parliamentarians for bribery and extortion, the Minnis administration is still playing on the fears many in the electorate still have over PLP “corruption”.

As it promotes Minnis as a competent and honest leader, it is shamelessly seeking to smear the name of the PLP leader.

If the FNM cared about the concerns expressed by URCA in its interim order or the concerns raised by Davis’ lawyers in their letter of complaint to URCA, it would have taken down its Facebook attack ad.

It clearly does not care.

MUDSLINGING

In a statement on July 24, the PLP, ignoring the mote in its own eye, said, “The FNM created and paid for defamatory television ads and used its power on Aliv’s board to have Cable Bahamas air the nasty ads loaded with lies. URCA has now ordered the ads removed and Cable Bahamas stands to pay a substantial amount of money, all because of the FNM’s political lies.”

To be clear, URCA has made no final decision on whether the ad was defamatory or in breach of its code and there is no determination made that Cable Bahamas stands to pay any fines as no breach has been determined – at least not at this point. The regulators are merely investigating the complaint by Davis’ attorneys.

The PLP in its statement by Chairman Fred Mitchell said the FNM “appears to be hooked on the advice of its foreign advisors trying to run a 2017 election in 2021”.

“The same propaganda, political lies and trickery will not work this time,” the PLP chairman stated.

Not surprisingly, Davis’ and the PLPs’ hypocrisy have been exposed in complaining about the FNM’s dirty TV ad.

It is behaving no better, but it expects to earn the respect and support of the electorate.

Davis, no doubt mindful of the power of perceptions in politics and the FNM’s previous success in stamping the corruption label on the PLP, has been doing exactly what he, through his lawyers, has complained about, and that is seeking to smear Minnis’ name and paint the FNM as corrupt.

The difference is the PLP attack ad is running exclusively on social media.

Unless Facebook receives a complaint, it will not take down the offending ads.

In the PLP ad slamming the FNM, the claims are partially a repeat of allegations made previously by Davis.

The PLP accuses the FNM of funneling millions of dollars to undisclosed private accounts: “Profits from the travel visa scam. Profits from COVID testing. Profits from food assistance.”

Th PLP alleges, the “FNM get rich quick pandemic marches on while the people suffer”. 

That ad has been viewed almost 400,000 times.

Viewers are urged to “watch and see how the FNM’s inner circle got RICHER while the people suffered”.

Of course, the PLP provides no evidence of corruption as it relates to the health travel visa initiative put in place by the Minnis administration in an effort to limit, if not prevent, travelers from bringing in the coronavirus.

It also has presented no evidence to show any corruption as it relates to COVID testing and the government’s food assistance program.

But Davis knows that for many voters, evidence does not matter.

If he and the PLP are successful enough in planting the perception of a corrupt FNM administration, that seed could grow and could result in more voters turning to the PLP.

Back in February, the PLP leader complained that the political scene was getting increasingly dirty and accused the FNM of employing dirty tricks and being behind fake anti-PLP ads on social media.

Davis said the FNM was funding toxic, deceptive ads – a claim FNM Chairman Carl Culmer denied.

“I am not talking about ordinary politics. I can handle rough and tough politics,” the PLP leader said. “I have no problem with that. I am talking about how this FNM’s dirty political tactics are more deceitful and more dangerous than anything we’ve seen in our country’s modern history.”

If Davis is interested in running a clean campaign based on the issues, he should do just that. 

But he cannot on the one hand complain about being defamed by the FNM and then on the other hand lead a party that is employing the same nasty tactics. He cannot have it both ways.

Mudslinging is nothing new to Bahamian politics and we expect that in the coming weeks there will be much more of it. But if the PLP leader has evidence of the FNM administration hiding behind emergency orders to funnel millions of dollars to “friends and insiders”, he should actually present that evidence as opposed to seeking to distract us by feigning outrage over what he claims to be defamatory advertising by the governing party.

The reason the PLP’s and FNM’s internal polling is showing them there exists a significant percentage of undecided voters, has everything to do with the behavior of our political leaders and their failure to distinguish their parties as credible options for governance.

When it comes to the hypocrisy and gutter political maneuvering of today’s crop of politicians, many in the electorate have long had enough.

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