Michaela Barnett-Ellis strides onto the political stage, lambasting the PLP for its perceived failure to promote women in politics. She presents herself as a courageous pioneer for women’s empowerment. However, let’s not be swayed by her rhetoric: Barnett-Ellis is not a beacon of progress. She is a glaring example of hypocrisy, a candidate of privilege, not merit, ushered in by the clandestine dealings of men. Her candidacy, built on nepotism, is a slap in the face of meritocracy and a gross injustice. She knows the chances of the FNM winning are as slim as a snowball’s survival in hell.
She immediately starts crying for her daddy because she messed up instead of showing that she has matured. This ‘little girl’ will never grow up politically. She does not possess credentials that meet the eye or any political assets to have been selected. Her narrative of empowerment is a stark contrast to her actual political journey, highlighting the hypocrisy in her claims.
Everyone in the FNM knows the truth. Barnett-Ellis is only a candidate because her father, Michael Barnett, is a loyal disciple of Hubert Ingraham. When Michael Pintard found himself weakened, his leadership hollowed out after losing the support of the Minnis faction, he needed Ingraham’s blessing to keep his shaky throne. So, Pintard did what weak leaders always do: he capitulated. Under pressure from Ingraham, he handed Barnett-Ellis the nomination, tossing aside party democracy and appeasing the old guard, much to the fury of his council members and even the Meritorious Council Members. Pressure burst pipes!
Pintard choosing Barnett-Ellis is Ingraham’s last-ditch effort to have a say because he has lost all hope that his ‘uncircumcised philistine’ Duane Sands just cannot cut the mustard.
This was not empowerment; it was a seat bought with bloodlines and influence. Barnett-Ellis’s claims of empowerment are not just hypocritical; they are a stark reminder of the need for political integrity and genuine progress.
And the audacity, the gall, is that Barnett-Ellis now lectures the PLP about women’s advancement. How dare she? Where was her outrage when Loretta Butler-Turner, the FNM’s most capable woman in a generation, was chewed up and spat out by her own party? Loretta, a seasoned politician, dared to challenge for leadership; for that, she was not just ridiculed, undermined, and humiliated, but also faced significant internal opposition and was eventually removed from her position. That is the FNM’s record on women. That is the legacy Barnett-Ellis inherits.
Meanwhile, the PLP is delivering results. There are seven women in Parliament and five women in the Cabinet, including Speaker Patricia Deveaux, Glenys Hanna-Martin, JoBeth Coleby-Davis, Ginger Moxey, Pia Glover-Rolle, Her Excellency Leslia Miller-Brice, Ambassador to CARICOM, and Lisa Rahming as a Parliamentary Secretary. These women are not tokens. They shape national policy, run ministries, and sit at the centre of power. That is real advancement, not lip service.
In stark contrast, Barnett-Ellis’s candidacy is founded on the crumbling edifice of nepotism. She did not struggle her way in like Loretta Butler-Turner attempted to do. She did not break barriers or shatter ceilings. She was handed a seat because Hubert Ingraham whispered, and Michael Pintard had no choice but to comply. This stark contrast between her nepotism and the genuine progress of the PLP weighs heavily on the political landscape, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
So when Barnett-Ellis speaks out against the PLP, it falls flat. It is not a matter of conviction. It is a matter of convenience. It is a performance. She is not a pioneer. She is a pawn, a candidate of privilege propped up by the deals of older men, not by the strength of her political merit.
Leslie Miller’s sexist tongue accidentally exposed her for what she is: a woman who talks about women’s advancement while standing on a platform built entirely by men’s patronage. The hullabaloo surrounding Miller’s outburst should not close our eyes to Barnett-Ellis’s hypocrisy.
Because here’s the truth, Bahamian women already know: the real advancement is happening under the PLP. And Barnett-Ellis? She’s just a placeholder for the old order, dressed up as progress. This reaffirmation of the PLP’s commitment to women’s progress should reassure the audience about the party’s stance.
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