Register Ends March 12:
By Candia Dames -
Nassau, Bahamas:

In a sure sign that the election season is heating up, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced in a televised national address last night that he has advised the governor general to close the current register of voters on Monday, March 12.

Prime Minister Christie said an order to that effect under Section 14 of the Parliamentary Elections Act was expected to be made to the governor general yesterday with a view to publication of the required ‘register of voters expiry date notice’ today.

"Now that the current register of voters is being brought to an end, it is a matter of the first importance that all Bahamian citizens who have not yet done so proceed as soon as possible to register for the forthcoming general elections," the prime minister said.

"The time between now and the next general elections is getting shorter with each passing day. I urge Bahamians to act now by registering to vote either at the Parliamentary Registration Department or at any of its many satellite offices."

Continuing his brief address, Mr. Christie said the ability to cast one’s ballot for the candidate of one’s choice is perhaps the most cherished of all the political and civil rights enjoyed by citizens of The Bahamas.

"Indeed it lies at the very heart of the democratic system of government we hold so dear," the prime minister said.

"It represents the ultimate expression of the supremacy of the electorate in determining the future governance of our country. Fellow citizens, I again take this opportunity to encourage all Bahamians of 18 years or older to ensure that they put themselves in a position of readiness to decide the future of our country by registering to vote as soon as possible."

Providing further explanation to the prime minister’s announcement late yesterday, Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel explained to the Bahama Journal that when the current register dies on March 12, it will be replaced by the new register, so the new register will then become the register in force.

"We will continue to work on the new register in preparation for an election," he said.

After March 12, he said people can still register to vote.

"If people register after that date, we would not then be doing two cards for people who are registering for the first time. We would only be registering people one time and that is on the new register, which will then become the register of record."

And people who have already registered to vote do not need to do so again.

"Those who are registered on the new register are safe," Mr. Bethel explained.

"Those who might have been on the old register, but are not on the new register they will not be safe. They will now have to make sure that their names are on the new register for them to be able to vote."

Mr. Bethel said the latest count of people who have registered on the new register is 109,000. Just over 155,000 are on the old register, according to the parliamentary commissioner.

He said his department was hoping to get at least 160,000 voters on the new register.

"I think the closing of the old register will assist us tremendously because people will then know that we are focusing on the new register and that the new register is the register that will be used. If their names are not on the new register then it would be very, very urgent that they get registered on the new register as soon as possible."

2 February 2007

Bahamian Politics>>>

FNM Candidates Unveiled:
By Macushla N. Pinder -
Nassau, Bahamas:

The Free National Movement unveiled 39 of its 40 candidates on Tuesday, as the countdown has started for the upcoming general election, although the prime minister has not yet announced a date.

The FNM made history in being the first political party to announce candidates via a website.

Close to 20 of the candidates are young faces, who are new to politics.

The youngest candidate is 27-year-old Trust Service Officer, David Jordine, who will run in Bain and Grants Town.

FNM Chairman Desmond Bannister will run in Carmichael. Michael Barnett, a partner at law firm Graham Thompson, is the candidate for Fort Charlotte.

Former Attorney General Senator Carl Bethel will run in Holy Cross; attorney Elma Campbell will run in Elizabeth; Reece Chipman, a CPA, will run in St. Thomas More, and FNM former deputy leader Sidney Collie will run in Blue Hills.

Former Minister of Labour and Immigration Dr. Earl Deveaux has been endorsed as the candidate for the Marathon constituency.

Newcomer Ella Lewis, an educator, hopes to beat out Prime Minister Perry Christie in Farm Road.

Former CDR Deputy CEO Charles Maynard, a buisnessman, has been chosen to run for Adelaide; attorney Branville McCartney will run in Bamboo Town and Dr. Hubert Minnis will contest the Delaporte seat.

Pauline Cooper-Nairn, a former senator, will run in Yamacraw; former CDR leader Phenton Neymour in South Beach; attorney Raymond Rolle in Englerston and former Road Traffic Controller Brensil Rolle in Garden Hills.

The candidate for Golden Gates is young attorney Donald Saunders; while Montagu MP Brent Symonette is again seeking to win in that constituency.

Loretta Butler-Turner, a businesswoman, has been chosen to run in St. Margaret; former FNM leader Senator Tommy Turnquest will seek to win back Mount Moriah; young businessman Michael Turnquest is the candidate for Kennedy and Byron Woodside will contest the Pinewood Gardens seat.

Verna Grant will run in Eight Mile Rock; Jacinta Higgs, a college lecturer, is the candidate for Fox Hill, and real estate developer, Marjorie Johnson, is the South Andros candidate.

Once the Minister of Economic Development, Zhivargo Laing reenters frontlinde politics as the FNM’s candidate for Marco City.

Incumbent MP Kenneth Russell will again run for High Rock while Senator Gladys Johnson-Sands will run in Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.

Attorney Kwasi Thompson has been chosen to represent the FNM in Pineridge; David Wallace, branch manager for Colina/Imperial Life Insurance, will run in West End and Bimini, and Neko Grant, group manager for Burns House Group of Companies in the northern Bahamas, will again seek to represent Lucaya.

Long-time educator Johnley Ferguson is the candidate for South Eleuthera and incumbent Alvin Smith, who was once leader of the Official Opposition, will contest the North Eleuthera seat.

Former Minister of Education Dion Foulkes will run in Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay; Vice President and co-owner of Western Air, Shandrice Rolle, will run in North Andros and the Berry Islands, and former Ambassador to the United States, Mexico and the Organization of American States Joshua Sears will run in Exuma.

Former PLP Senator Edison Key will be the candidate in South Abaco while party leader Hubert Ingraham will again run in North Abaco.

After hanging up his hat as an Independent MP, Long Island and Ragged Island MP Larry Cartwright will also run under the FNM’s banner

The Opposition has yet to reveal its candidate for the St Cecilia constituency.

"There are a few matters to be dealt with," Mr. Bannister, the party’s chairman, told the Bahama Journal on Tuesday. "But within a matter of days, the public should see this person."

According to Mr. Bannister, the party’s candidates were chosen following a fair and democratic exercise that started with a consultation process with persons considered leaders within various constituencies as well as persons with the party.

"There were a number of names [of people] that were submitted [who] were well qualified for the positions. The party had a difficult choice in making its selections," he said.

"The party’s executive body and council each met and we made certain determinations. It was only after this process was completed that we had our slate of candidates."

Branville McCartney, the Bamboo Town candidate, said he would bring "true representation" to that constituency..

"I have been working in the area now since April 2006 and I will be its next representative. My job over the next few months will be to bring Bamboo Town to life and a lot of things must be done. There is not one crime watch committee," he said.

"There is nothing for the youth or senior citizens. I do sympathize with Mr. (Tennyson) Wells because he is unable to do anything as an independent, but surely he can get the community together to try to establish certain things.

When asked why he aligned himself with the FNM, Mr. McCartney claimed it is the party with the interest of the entire country at heart.

"The record speaks for itself," he said. "I have been indirectly involved in politics for several years and I have made my choice."

Mr. Saunders, the FNM candidate for Golden Gates, made similar comments. He said his aim is to bring residents together to create programmes like crime watch associations.

"The FNM has always been the party that made opportunities available for everyone – whether black, white, rich or poor," he said.

The FNM has already held several mini-rallies since the new year rolled in. On Tuesday, it launched its new website, freenationalmovement.org.

The governing Progressive Liberal Party has yet to reveal its full slate of candidates.

The prime minister has said the general election will be held on or before May 2.

31 January 2007

Bahamian Politics>>>

Political Constituencies of The Bahamas and

The Free National Movement's (FNM) List of 39

PM: Ingraham Will Fail:
By Candia Dames -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Prime Minister Perry Christie declared on Wednesday that he’s politically stronger than ever and he said there is "absolutely no doubt" that FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham is going to lose the next election.

"Quite frankly, this is going to be a referendum on Ingraham’s style and my style and our personal popularities," said Prime Minister Christie, who spoke during an interview with The Bahama Journal.

Asked how he could be so sure that Mr. Ingraham would lose, Mr. Christie said, "I think it’s all about God."

He added, "In my case, you make the very best effort you can to convince people of the sincerity of your purpose and then you start to read the signs. I read the people like Arthur Foulkes (the Tribune columnist). In their commentary they’re unable to say anything substantive about me, so they speak about leadership and not controlling [my] Cabinet and anyone knows that I’m in charge of my Cabinet and I’m in charge of the policy of this country and all of the initiatives being taken."

The prime minister, who said he’s in good health, added that his energy level is extremely high and he remains highly confident heading into the next election.

"I’ve been confident all my life with respect to public life because I give and I give and I give and I think people understand that and they believe in that. Also, my success is unparalleled. The success of my government is unparalleled," he said.

"What we have to do now is to ensure that we have a social balance to the initiatives we are taking because the economy is beyond question, and we now have to ensure that issues like crime and illegal immigration [are adequately addressed]."

The prime minister also confirmed that the governing PLP has put off a convention it had planned for February, but he said a new date had not been set. Mr. Christie told the Journal that the plan was to announce his party’s candidates during the February convention.

The prime minister has said the next general election will be on or before May 2.

Calling the present political climate "the calm before the storm", Mr. Christie said individual candidates are already campaigning quietly in the various constituencies.

"Most certainly, I anticipate that we’re going to name our candidates before the convention, and so people, by and large, know that most of the people who are with us now are going to be candidates. I suppose there’s some curiosity as to who will not be running with us," he said.

Asked what will be the key message of the PLP’s re-election campaign, the prime minister said, "The key message in the campaign is that we have secured the future of The Bahamas and the opportunities are now available for Bahamians to take advantage of."

Mr. Ingraham, the country’s former prime minister, has been taking the Christie government to task at his recent rallies, accusing the government of breaking key promises to the Bahamian people.

"They have not only neglected to keep those promises, they have squandered their time in office and betrayed the people’s trust," he said at a rally in Fox Hill last Thursday night.

"…I say, one bad term in office does not deserve another. Trust me, they don’t deserve another term. We have a proven record. You know our record. You can count on us. But we don’t just offer a record, we offer a new agenda to renew your trust."

But on Wednesday, the prime minister dismissed Mr. Ingraham’s rally talk.

"I think Mr. Ingraham needs to get a lot of air time and press time. I think we have not as smartly as we should responded to some of the comments that he’s making and we’re obviously trying to do something about that, but it’s for him to have the Bahamian people placed in a position to determine whether they will choose his side over my side," Mr. Christie told The Journal.

"My side actually happens to be in a very dynamic position where we’re doing things and you judge us by what we’re doing or what we’re not doing. One of the ways to do that is to look at what Ingraham has done before with his government and also to see what his promises are."

The prime minister said he’s amused that Mr. Ingraham often tries to paint a picture of the present government being ineffective "when all around him he (Mr. Ingraham) can see the signs of effectiveness."

"How do you attack Christie and a Christie-led government? You have to have these vague sort of positions that you take about leadership," the prime minister said. "First it was consultation, not being able to make decisions, procrastination, those are these vague terms they use to try to create a picture of me, but I’m trying to show them energy and synergy and Ingraham is going to have to be able to keep up."

He said Mr. Ingraham was doing the best that he can with all that he can, but it’s not going to be good enough.

"Ingraham will fail in this effort, and that’s how it’s going to be," the prime minister predicted.

25 January 2006

Bahamian Politics >>>

3 Permanent Residents In Jail:

By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Labour and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson sought yesterday to turn the scrutiny on the Free National Movement administration’s approval of permanent residency for several foreigners who are in jail.

He did so in a scathing response to a request for a status report on the investigation into the approval of permanent residency for American celebrity Vickie Lynn Marshall, alias Anna Nicole Smith.

Mr. Gibson referred instead to the approvals granted for Martin Tremblay, Derek Turner and Viktor Kozeny all of whom are being held incarcerated in relation to fraud and money laundering.

In the case of Tremblay, he said that the former FNM administration under former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham had granted the approval within 19 days, scoffing at the accusation that he had "fast tracked" Smith’s application in three weeks. Mr. Gibson said according to his documentation, Tremblay had applied on April 21, 1994 and was granted approval on May 10 of the same year.

Janet Bostwick was the Minister of Immigration at the time, he said.

He also claimed that Tremblay purchased a home in Sandyport, but sold it soon after his permanent residency status was granted. Under current laws, one of the conditions of the economic permanent residency status is the ownership and maintenance of a home worth at least $500,000.

"Don’t forget, when we sit around the Immigration Board, the minister is not the chairman, it’s the prime minister. The prime minister at that time was Hubert Alexander Ingraham. He was the person who approved this in 19 days," Mr. Gibson charged.

"Mr. Tremblay didn’t buy a house. You know what he did? He purchased a house in Sandyport…and the minute he got it he sold it and weeks after the other person came who got the house and they then applied for permanent residency as well."

He said while Tremblay, Turner and Kozeny are all in jail Mrs. Marshall is "home relaxing."

Tremblay, a Canadian investment banker who headed the Bahamas based Dominion Investments, laundered a hefty sum in accounts he kept in The Bahamas. He admitted to transferring $220,000 he believed was obtained through nefarious means to those accounts.

As part of a plea agreement, US prosecutors dropped the more substantial charge of laundering $1 billion in profits from narcotics trafficking and a series of other illicit activities. Tremblay is to be sentenced in mid February, 2007.

On this matter the morning sitting of the House of Assembly grew rowdy as there were claims and counterclaims across the floor.

Mr. Ingraham at one point sought to shift the focus to the governing PLP.

"Certainly if I found out that [Tremblay] or anyone else had gotten permanent residency and had immediately sold his house and subsequently went to jail we would have taken steps to revoke his permanent residency. I wonder whether or not the minister and the government have yet taken steps to revoke Mr. [Tremblay’s] permanent residency," he said.

Prime Minister Perry Christie said the government had initiated action in that regard.

"When Derek Turner was given permanent residency status [in The Bahamas] he was already convicted in New Zealand on fraud and was ordered to pay back millions of dollars," charged Mr. Gibson suggesting that the former administration should have conducted its due diligence.

Turner, a former Bahamas-based international securities trader was convicted last year in the US of running a phoney investment scheme and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In total, Turner reportedly ripped off between $55 million and $80 million from more than 30 investors. He was also stripped of his Bahamas assets.

Kozeny is at Her Majesty’s Prison while he awaits a decision on his extradition to the US to face charges of corruption, money laundering and conspiracy in massive financial fraud involving billions of dollars.

The entire matter came up when North Eleuthera MP Alvin Smith asked the minister to provide a report on the status of the investigation he said that he would have undertaken into the Anna Nicole Smith affair. Her permanent residency approval became the subject of much controversy in recent months, part of the wider intrigue of the initially mysterious death of her son Daniel in the same hospital where she had given birth to a baby girl days prior.

Since then, a US developer has laid an ownership claim to the same waterfront home that was one of the key considerations in the approval of her permanent residency.

14 December 2006

Bahamian Politics

Opposition Party Calls For Gibson To Resign:

By Bianca Symonette -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Members of the Workers Party called for the resignation of Minister of Labour and Immigration Shane Gibson during a small and peaceful demonstration in front of the main Post Office building in Nassau on Tuesday.

According to party leader, Rodney Moncur, Minister Gibson should resign due to the controversy surrounding the permanent residency of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith.

Ms. Smith has been at the centre of controversy for several months now.

Her former lover Ben Thompson has claimed that he owns the Eastern Road home where she lives and has demanded that she leave.

Mr. Gibson has said that Ms. Smith was granted permanent residency because she was considered an "economic applicant", and had purchased a million-dollar home in the country.

Mr. Moncur insisted during his protest that due diligence was not done before Ms. Smith’s application was approved.



"We must examine what is the purpose behind an economic permanent resident and the policy behind that is that a foreigner is required to invest a minimum of $500,000 and all taxes and benefits arrived from that are to be put in the public treasury. So to date the minister has failed to collect $90,000 now owing to the public treasury and for that we are now demanding his resignation," Mr. Moncur said.

He and his group reportedly dropped off a petition at Government House requesting an investigation to be launched into the whole affair.

"We are complaining over the fact that Minister Shane Gibson did not do due diligence in the processing of the application of Anna Nicole Smith. Had he done due diligence he would have discovered that there was a hidden controversy of her purported purchase of the Eastern Road home," Mr. Moncur said.

He said the government should have done the honorable thing and admit that it acted out of turn and without merit and immediately rescind the granting of Ms. Smith’s permanent residency.

"The government in its suspicious haste to grant this permanent residency was so deficient that they did not collect the stamp taxes on the conveyance as are required by law before they could even judiciously take note of the documents upon which they acted to so make this grant," Mr. Moncur claimed.

In addition to launching an investigation into the matter, the Workers Party has also asked the governor general to demand an apology from the prime minister over the whole matter.

"Now therefore the Workers Party beseeches His Excellency to demand from the prime minister a sincere and humble apology to The Bahamian people… and that the prime minister do advise the immigration board that the permanent residency as issued to Ms. Smith do now stand revoked until full and complete resolution of the substantive ownership issues before the Supreme Court," Mr. Moncur said.

He added that if these requests are not followed the country would be further decayed and the destruction of public affairs would continue.

Minister Gibson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the matter, and Prime Minister Perry Christie has defended him on the issue.

bahamian politics