The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy headed by Queen Elizabeth II in her role as Queen 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. Queen Elizabeth II 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.
The Right Excellent Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, is regarded as the "Father of the Nation" of the Bahamas, having led it to majority rule on 10 January 1967 and to independence on 10 July 1973. He served as the first black premier of the Colony of the Bahama Islands from 1967 to 1969 and as Prime Minister of the Bahamas from 1969 to 1992. He was leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) from 1956 to 1997 when he resigned from public life under scandal.
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 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 conservative political party in The Bahamas formed in the 1970s, led by Cecil Wallace Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Hubert Minnis and his deputy is Peter Turnquest. It dominated the General Election held on 10 May 2017, winning 35 of the 39 seats in the Legislature.
Hubert Alexander Ingraham 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 from 2005 to 2007.
Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Since independence voter turnout has been generally high in national elections, with a low of 87.9% in 1987 and a high of 98.5% in 1997. The current Prime Minister is the Hon Hubert Minnis.
Frederick Gottlieb is a former Bahamian politician and currently a Bahamian lawyer. Frederick Gottlieb was born in Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, to Dr. and Mrs. Ejnar Gottlieb. Dr. Gottlieb was a doctor in Grand Bahama and Abaco who was employed by the Abaco Lumber Company owned by the late Wallace Groves the founder of the Bahamas second city Freeport in Grand Bahama.
Sir Henry Milton Taylor was the third Governor-General of the Bahamas.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2007.
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%.
Orville Alton Thompson "Tommy" Turnquest is a Bahamian politician.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 26 November 1962, the first under universal suffrage. Whilst the Progressive Liberal Party won the most votes, the United Bahamian Party won the most seats, largely as a result of gerrymandering.
A general election was held in the Bahamas on 7 May 2012. Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy, which relies on the first past the post system of voting. This was the first general election in which a third party offered a full slate of candidates along with the two major parties. The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won a majority in the election making Perry Christie prime minister.
Sir Randol Francis Fawkes was a Bahamian politician, trade unionist and lawyer.
Glenys Hanna Martin was born in Nassau on October 27, 1958 to the Hon. Arthur Dion Hanna and Beryl Hanna. She is the mother of three and grandmother of two.
Dame Doris Sands Johnson, was a Bahamian teacher, suffragette, and politician. She was the first Bahamian woman to contest an election in the Bahamas, the first female Senate appointee, and the first woman granted a leadership role in the Senate. Once in the legislature, she was the first woman to be made a government minister and then was elected as the first woman President of the Senate. She was the first woman to serve as Acting Governor General of the Bahamas, and was honored as Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Arinthia Santina Komolafe is a Bahamian politician who was elected the Deputy Leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), one of the three main political parties in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas on the 24th October, 2017. She succeeded Christopher Mortimer who was appointed as the Interim Leader of the DNA on the 24th 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 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 to hold a top leadership post in the DNA and the third in The Bahamas among the three main parties, following Cynthia Pratt, former Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Loretta Butler-Turner, former Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement.
