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All 39 seats in the House of Assembly 20 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Winning party by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in the Bahamas on 10 May 2017. [1] The elected members of the House of Assembly then elected the Prime Minister.
The result was a victory for the opposition Free National Movement led by Hubert Minnis, which defeated the ruling Progressive Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Perry Christie.
The Free National Movement (FNM) defeated the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in the 2007 general elections amid a scandal involving the residency status of model and reality television star Anna Nicole Smith and allegations that the PLP's immigration minister had fast-tracked her application to live in the islands. [2]
The composition of the House of Assembly changed during the 2012–17 term. Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham resigned as the leader of the FNM [3] following the party's loss in the 2012 polls and also resigned his parliamentary seat, forcing a by-election in the North Abaco constituency. This resulted in the PLP winning the seat and increasing their total to 30. Subsequently, the PLP lost three seats; Greg Moss left the party to form the United Democratic Party in 2015, while Andre Rollins and Renward Wells defected to the FNM, bringing the PLP's total down to 27 seats. [4]
Members of the House of Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. [5] In the 2017 general elections, there were 39 seats up for grabs in the House of Assembly. This was an increase of one seat from the 38 seat total in the previous parliamentary term, which began after the 2012 polls. [6] The majority party then selects the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Governor-General. [7]
Controversy arose quickly in the 2017 election campaign when Prime Minister Christie made the comment "Listen, its goin' so good now, God can't stop me now" at his opening rally on the island of Exuma, [8] [9] which caused a furious backlash.
The opposition parties decried allegations of rampant corruption in the PLP government, [10] [11] [12] while it went after allegations of the same thing in the previous government, run by the FNM. [13] [14]
Many lamented the descent of the campaign into "gutter politics." [15] [16] [17]
Infighting in the FNM also caused some controversy. The leader of the FNM, Hubert Minnis, was replaced as the leader of the Official Opposition in the nation's House of Assembly by Loretta Butler-Turner. Butler-Turner served, at one time, as the deputy leader of the FNM party, while Minnis served as party leader. Feuding within the FNM led to a "coup" in late 2016 among FNM parliamentarians in the House of Assembly. As a result, Minnis was removed as the leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly, while remaining as the leader of the FNM party. As the general elections loomed, the FNM revoked Butler-Turner's nomination as the FNM's candidate for the Long Island constituency. Butler-Turner then opted to run as an independent candidate for the Long Island constituency, while remaining as the leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly until its dissolution in April 2017. [18] [19] [20]
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Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
Free National Movement | 91,409 | 56.99 | 35 | +26 | |
Progressive Liberal Party | 59,253 | 36.94 | 4 | –25 | |
Democratic National Alliance | 7,577 | 4.72 | 0 | 0 | |
Bahamas Constitution Party | 315 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 | |
Bahamas National Coalition Party | 314 | 0.20 | 0 | New | |
The People's Movement | 200 | 0.12 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 1,339 | 0.83 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 160,407 | 100.00 | 39 | +1 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 181,543 | – | |||
Source: PRD, PRD |
The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy headed by King Charles III in his role as King of the Bahamas. The politics of The Bahamas takes place within a framework of parliamentary democracy, with a Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The Bahamas is an Independent Country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. As a former British colony, its political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. King Charles III is the head of state, but executive power is exercised by the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and jurisprudence is based on English common law. The multi-party system is dominated by the Progressive Liberal Party and the Free National Movement. The constitution protects freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.
Perry Gladstone Christie PC, MP is a Bahamian former politician who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from 2002 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2017. He is the second longest-serving Bahamian elected parliamentarian, representing the Centreville constituency from 1977 to 2017. He is also a former athlete. His Progressive Liberal Party is the oldest Bahamian political party, holding solid majorities in the Bahamian Parliament several times in its long history.
The Free National Movement is a political party in the Bahamas formed in the early 1970s and led by Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and the current deputy leader is Shanendon Cartwright.
The Progressive Liberal Party is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party.
Hubert Alexander Ingraham, PC is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002, and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Movement Party (FNM). Prior to the 2012 election, he was the FNM's Party Leader and was the Member of Parliament for the North Abaco constituency. He served as leader of the opposition in the House of Assembly of the Bahamas from 2005 to 2007.
Theodore Brent Symonette is a Bahamian businessman and Free National Movement politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for St. Anne's from 2007 to 2012 and 2017 to 2021. In his first term, he served as Deputy Prime Minister to Hubert Ingraham and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In his second, he was the Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration from 2017 to 2019.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2007. The result was an opposition victory, with the Free National Movement, led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, claiming 23 of the 41 seats. Incumbent Prime Minister Perry Christie conceded defeat in a phone call to his rival. Ingraham was sworn into the office of Prime Minister on 4 May.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2002. The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 29 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly to defeat the governing Free National Movement (FNM). Voter turnout was 90.2%.
Renward Ricardo Wells is a Bahamian politician and retired sprinter who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bamboo Town from 2012 to 2021. In sprinting, he specialized in the 100 metres.
Philip Edward "Brave" Davis is a Bahamian politician serving as the prime minister of the Bahamas since 2021. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador from 1992 to 1997 and returned to the seat in May 2002, which he still represents.
Orville Alton Thompson "Tommy" Turnquest, CBE is a Bahamian politician.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 19 August 1992. The result was a victory for the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), which received 55% of the vote and won 33 of the 49 seats in the House of Assembly, while the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) lost nearly half their seats, winning only 16.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 7 May 2012. They were the first general election in which a third party offered a full slate of candidates alongside the two major parties, the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). The result was a victory for the opposition PLP, whose leader Perry Christie became prime minister.
The Democratic National Alliance is a political party in The Bahamas, officially launched on 12 May 2011. The current leader of the DNA is Arinthia Komolafe, the Party's first female leader elected on 22 February 2019. Mrs. Komolafe succeeded Mr. Christopher A. Mortimer who served as Interim Leader from 24 October 2017 to 22 February 2019. He was preceded by the party's first leader and one of 13 founding members, Branville McCartney. The Party has contested two General Elections in The Bahamas in 2012 and 2017 gaining 8.5% and 4.7% of the popular vote respectively.
Hubert Alexander Minnis, ON is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the former leader of the Free National Movement, the former governing party, and the Member of Parliament for the New Providence constituency of Killarney. First elected to the legislature in the 2007 election, he succeeded Hubert Ingraham as party leader following the party's defeat in the 2012 election.
Loretta Butler-Turner is a Bahamian mortician and politician. She was the leader of the opposition in the Bahamian Parliament from December 2016 to May 2017.
Arinthia Santina Komolafe is a Bahamian politician who was elected the Leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), one of the three main political parties in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, on 24 October 2017. She succeeded Christopher Mortimer, who was appointed as Interim Leader of the DNA on 24 October 2017. Mortimer was appointed Interim Leader following the DNA's defeat in The Bahamas' General Elections on 10 May 2017, when the Party failed to win a parliamentary seat out of the 39 possible parliamentary seats in the House of Assembly. Founder and inaugural leader of the DNA, Branville McCartney announced his intention to resign from the Party and front-line politics following the defeat. Komolafe is the first female leader of the DNA political party and other females such as Cynthia Pratt, former Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Loretta Butler-Turner, former Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement.
Dionisio James D'Aguilar is a Bahamian Free National Movement (FNM) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Free Town and Minister of Tourism and Aviation from 2017 to 2021. Before getting involved in politics, he was a well-known businessman who served on the board of directors for multiple companies.
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Pia T. Glover-Rolle is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who is currently The Bahamas Minister of Labour and Public Service since 11 September 2023. Previously serving as the Bahamian Minister of State for Public Service since 23 September 2021 and the Member of Parliament for Golden Gates. Glover Rolle defeated FNM incumbent Michael Foulkes in the 2021 general election.