2017 Bahamian general election

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.

2017 Bahamian general election

← 2012 10 May 2017 (2017-05-10) 2021 →
All 39 seats in the House of Assembly 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Hubert Minnis Perry Christie Party FNM PLP Leader's seat Killarney Centreville (defeated) Last election 42.09%, 9 seats 48.62%, 29 seats Seats won 35 4 Seat change 26 25 Popular vote 91,401 59,253 Percentage 56.99% 36.94% Swing 14.9 pp 11.68 pp
Winning party by constituency
Prime Minister before election Perry Christie PLP Elected Prime Minister Hubert Minnis FNM

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.

Background

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]

Electoral system

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]

Parties and leaders

• Progressive Liberal Party
  • Perry Christie (Centreville)
• Free National Movement
  • Hubert Minnis (Killarney)
• Democratic National Alliance
  • Branville McCartney
• Bahamas Constitution Party
  • S. Ali McIntosh
• Bahamas National Coalition Party
  • Wesley Campbell
• The People's Movement
  • Patrick Paul

Campaign

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]

Results

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

List of elected MPs

Party		Name	Constituency
	Free National Movement (35)	Travis Robinson	Bain Town & Grants Town
		Renward Wells	Bamboo Town
		Thomas Desmond Bannister	Carmichael
		James Albury	Central & South Abaco
		Hank Johnson	Central and South Eleuthera
		Iram Lewis	Central Grand Bahama
		Reece Chipman	Centreville[lower-alpha 1]
		K. Peter Turnquest	East Grand Bahama
		Duane Sands	Elizabeth
		Mark Humes	Fort Charlotte
		Shonel Ferguson	Fox Hill
		Dionisio D'Aguilar	Freetown
		Brensil Rolle	Garden Hills
		Michael Foulkes	Golden Gates
		Vaughn Miller	Golden Isles[lower-alpha 2]
		Hubert Minnis	Killarney
		Adrian Gibson	Long Island
		Romauld Ferreira	Marathon
		Michael Pintard	Marco City
		Miriam Emmanuel	MICAL
		Marvin Dames	Mount Moriah
		Halson Moultrie	Nassau Village[lower-alpha 3]
		Darren Henfield	North Abaco
		Carlton Bowleg Jr.	North Andros & Berry Islands
		Howard Mackey	North Eleuthera
		Frederick McAlpine	Pineridge[lower-alpha 4]
		Reuben Rahming	Pinewood
		Lanisha T. Rolle	Seabreeze
		Jeffrey Lloyd	South Beach
		Frankie Campbell	Southern Shores
		Brent Symonette	St. Anne's
		Shanendon Cartwright	St. Barnabas
		Donal Saunders	Tall Pines
		Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe	West Grand Bahama & Bimini
		Elsworth Johnson	Yamacraw
	Progressive Liberal Party (4)	Philip "Brave" Davis	Cat Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador
		Glenys Hanna Martin	Englerston
		Chester Cooper	The Exumas and Ragged Island
		Picewell Forbes	Mangrove Cay and South Andros

Notes

1. Chipman left the FNM in February 2021.
2. Miller defected to the PLP in September 2020.
3. Moultrie left the FNM in February 2021.
4. McAlpine left the FNM in July 2021.

References

1. Bahamas Election Set for May 10th The Bahamas Weekly, 11 April 2017
2. "WikiLeaks: Anna Nicole Smith took the Bahamas by storm". The Daily Telegraph. 22 December 2010.
3. Rolle, Krystel (8 May 2012). "Ingraham resigns". thenassauguardian.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
4. "Wells And Rollins Join The Fnm". Tribune 242. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
5. "Bahamas (House of Assembly), Electoral system". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
6. "39 seats in next House". Bahamas Local. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
7. "Eight Things You Should Know About The Bahamas Election Today". News American Now. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
8. Dorsett, Sancheska (24 April 2017). "PM jokes God can't stop him on election trail". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
9. Virgil, Khrisna (25 April 2017). "PM explains why he said God can't stop me now". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
10. "Questions Surround Money Paid into US Bank Account of Bahamas Minister". caribbean3060.com. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
11. Virgil, Khrisna (26 April 2017). "PM says claim of son's pay is 'crazy'". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
12. Gibson, Adrian (1 September 2016). "A Young Man's View: Wherever You Look With Baha Mar, Conflict Of Interest Abounds". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
13. Turnquest, Ava (25 April 2017). "Symonette doubts some disclosures' accuracy". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
14. "FNM Candidate Admitted to Fraud in Customs Declaration Scandal…Watch dem fall one by one!!!". bahamaspress.com. 23 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
15. Scavella, Nico (25 April 2017). "Bishop attacks 'Gutter Politics'". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
16. "Is it da people's time to commit armed ROBBERY? FNM candidate's general caught in high-speed chase with police following armoured truck robbery!". bahamaspress.com. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
17. "FNMs spread FAKE NEWS on Baha Mar!". bahamaspress.com. 25 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
18. Virgil, Khrisna (21 April 2017). "Butler-Turner out of FNM as she runs as Independent". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
19. Turnquest, Ava (20 December 2016). "Door 'slammed shut' on FNM nomination for Butler-Turner". tribune242.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
20. "Hubert Minnis going after Bahamas PM's job". caribbean360.com. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.