There comes a point when a pattern is no longer coincidence but character. That point has long been reached with Lincoln Bain.
Once again, Bain has chosen distortion over truth, provocation over principle, and spectacle over substance. His latest attempt to inflame public sentiment—this time aimed at a charitable act by members of the Chinese community—is not just reckless; it is cynical in the extreme.
The facts are not complicated, nor are they disputed.
Three public parks in Golden Gates are renovated at zero cost to taxpayers. The work is being fully funded by members of The Bahamas’ Chinese community. There are no contracts, no concessions, no quid pro quo, and no displacement of Bahamian workers.
This has been clearly stated by Pia Glover-Rolle, Minister of Labour and the Public Service, and the duly elected Member of Parliament for Golden Gates. The work consists of routine, modest repairs—painting, bench replacement, playground maintenance—the kind of community uplift that has historically been welcomed, not weaponized.
Yet Bain, joined by the Coalition of Independents (COI), has deliberately mischaracterized this goodwill gesture as sinister. Not because the facts support such a claim, but because outrage is the only political fuel they have left.
This is not advocacy. It is agitation.
It must be said plainly: the COI is not engaged in serious politics. It has no coherent policy agenda. It offers no credible solutions on crime, education, healthcare, housing, or economic growth. Instead, it has perfected grievance politics—performative anger designed for livestreams, comment sections, and fleeting attention.
When Haitians served as the convenient target, the COI leaned into that. Now, it is the Chinese community. The pattern is unmistakable: when ideas are absent, scapegoats are manufactured.
This is not accidental. It is strategic. But it is also failing.
Election after election has demonstrated a truth the COI refuses to confront: social media volume does not equal public trust. Online noise does not translate into ballots. And carnival-barking politics does not persuade a thoughtful electorate looking for competence and stability.
To suggest that long-standing contributors to Bahamian civic life should be viewed with suspicion for repairing a public park is not merely absurd—it is dangerous. It erodes social cohesion, undermines community spirit, and cheapens the national discourse. Worse still, it insults the intelligence of the Bahamian people.
This country has benefited for decades from partnerships—local and international—built on mutual respect and shared community interest. Acts of charity and civic responsibility have never been conditional on ethnicity, nationality, or political alignment. To retroactively rewrite that tradition for political gain is disgraceful.
The COI’s behavior should concern not just its critics, but its supporters. A political movement that substitutes outrage for vision, division for solutions, and distortion for truth is not a movement prepared to govern.
The Bahamian people deserve leadership grounded in facts, seriousness, and good faith. They deserve debates about policy, not fear. About progress, not paranoia. And they deserve better than a politics that thrives only by tearing at the fabric of community life.
Grievance politics is not leadership.
Xenophobia is not patriotism.
And noise is not momentum.
Xenophobia is not patriotism.
And noise is not momentum.
The country has seen this act before. It knows how it ends.
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