THE referendum questions are out, and as predicted they are giving rise to more questions than answers. Do you support the regulation and taxation of web shop gaming? And, do you support the establishment of a national lottery?
As I said before, no question is completely objective, and many people have observed, the web shop question contains certain assumptions that betray the understanding of some in the public. Bahamians under the false impression that web shops are illegal are uncomfortable with the suggestion that is inherent in the question: that web shops are legal. The government was wise nonetheless not to be swayed by those concerns; it would have only exposed itself to judicial challenge.
Beyond that concern, I believe the real discomfort arises from the desire of Bahamians to express their will on another fundamental question: should residents of the Bahamas be allowed to gamble in the Bahamas. The questions on the table do not address this issue.
In fact, the question suggests a certain predetermined answer that quashes the Vote No campaign. After all, why shouldn’t the government regulate and tax a prolific and practically lawless industry, when it is the legislative negligence of successive governments that has produced this unregulated mess in the first place? Clearly, the government should update the Lotteries and Gaming Act or create new legislation to formalize the domestic gaming industry, and allow for taxation. There is no moral argument in the government’s posed question.