VIDEO: Carifta track and field team returns home from Bermuda

BREAKING NEWS: BAHAMAS PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED

LATEST UPDATE: PM Hubert Ingraham sets May 7th for the date for general elections in 38 constituencies and May 23 as the first day of the new parliament. 


READ FULL TEXT OF ADDRESS TO THE NATION HERE


LISTEN: Provost Marshall dissolves parliament.  HOWEVER no election date was set. 




UPDATE: The Tribune newspaper cites insiders who claim election date has been set for May 7, 2012. Not confirmed. 

NASSAU, Bahamas: Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has advised the Governor-General to dissolve parliament in a statement released around midday on Tuesday.

Ingraham is expected to address the nation tonight at 8pm on national television and radio airwaves.

Both major political parties—the governing Free National Movement (FNM) and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)—held events on Monday.

Rt. Hon. Hubert Alexander Ingraham
(FNM2012.org)

At a political beach party on the Easter Monday holiday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told the crowd of supporters that “voters are very happy.”

He added that: “The roads are opened. (On) Prince Charles Drive you can drive from one end to the other; now on Market Street from Duke Street to Robinson Road; Baillou Hill South, down as far as Soldier Road and between now and the end of the month you will be able to go straight down to Carmichael Road.”

According to parliamentary officials, after the dissolution of parliament an election must take place within 21 days and no more than 30 days.  That would mean that the earliest a general election could be called would be May 2, 2012.

UPDATE: The Provost-Marshall expected to make an announcement on the steps of the house of the assembly around 1:45 EDT. 


LINKS: 


FREE NATIONAL MOVEMENT WEBSITE


PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY WEBSITE

READ: Full text of PM's address to The Bahamas

Remarks by

#Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham

#Prime Minister

#Steady Sunward

#10th April, 2012

#My Fellow Bahamians,

#I address you tonight after serving as your Prime Minister for the last five years, but more importantly, as a husband, a father and a citizen of the country that we all love.

#Over the last five years, there have been challenges, successes and above all, hope for the future.

#As we’ve worked to achieve success and stability, there has been one guiding principle of my government:

#Our Bahamaland belongs to us all. For as the well-known song reminds us:

#This land is your land.

#These are words we must never forget.

#Since the election in 2007, we have been working nonstop to restore your faith and trust in your government.

#That effort guided us as we confronted the Great Recession, which was the worst global economic crisis since Independence. It has been a tough battle, but we are winning that fight.

#We are relentlessly and aggressively tackling the long simmering

#immediate effects of crime while addressing the conditions that have given rise to a culture of criminality by some.

#This is fight we will not lose. And it is a fight I ask all Bahamians to join in, because Crime victimises us all. It is a blight on our society that knows no Party and no creed. It makes no distinction. We, as a people, must stand as one against this menace perpetrated on our country; it is something too important for partisan politics to side-track us from..

#Elsewhere, we are making progress in terms of economic recovery and national security. And, we have invested in making our country better every day.

#These things were not done because we like roads or we like building; they were done because we love the people of our country. 

#My Fellow Bahamians:

#I want to thank you for the privilege of serving you over many years in public life. I thank you for placing your trust in my leadership and that of my Party.

#Now we look to the future and the next election. As we begin this process, I want to ask all of our citizens to commit themselves to an election that is truly fitting of this great democracy of ours.

#Whatever the outcome, this will be an historic election on many levels. As of today I announce that the Register of Voters is closed; this means that there will be no more registrations and no more transfers of registrations. With the closing of the Register, it is my privilege to tell you that there are some 172,000 registered voters in the Bahamas; this is 22,000 more registered voters than in the last election and the highest number of registered voters ever recorded in the Bahamas.

#No matter what Political Party you lean toward, the most important thing you can do if you are a registered voter is vote. So, please check or collect your voter’s card, make sure the information on it is correct, and if it isn’t, have it corrected at once.

#Casting a ballot is a right of all registered voters. And we have strived to make sure that those registered voters who are unable to vote on Election Day because of travel schedules, hospitalisation, pregnancies, or government assignments overseas, will not miss their opportunity to exercise that right. Early voting will be made possible for those who are unable to cast a ballot on Election Day.

#Equally as important, we must have a clean, free, fair and honest election as, these are the most sacred aspects of democracy and it is in that endeavour we invited, for the first time ever, international observers from the from the Organization of American States, Caricom and the United States of America to come to the Bahamas and see a truly historical event.

#My fellow Bahamians:

#It is now time for the General Election. It is time to return your government to you. Tonight, therefore, I ring the election bell.

#I have the honour of informing you that, I have today advised His Excellency the Governor General to dissolve Parliament. General Elections will be held for the 38 constituencies of The Bahamas on Monday May 7th, 2012. The new Parliament will meet on May 23rd, exactly 5 years from the first sitting of the present Parliament.

#Again, I thank this country from the bottom of my heart. May God bless you and God bless the Bahamas.

PHOTO: Giants lose to Cybots

DEJECTED: Michael "Ferly" Bain tries to collect himself after the Commonwealth Bank Giants squander an 18 point lead on the Mailboat Cybots in the fourth quater of game two of the NPBA championship series.  The defending champions lose to the Cybots 103-90. The Cybots now have a 2-0 lead in the best of five series.  The series picks up on Wednesday April 11, 2012 at the D.W. Davis Gym. 

VIDEO: COB defeats TCI 2-1 in soccer friendly

VIDEO: FANS CELEBRATE A GOAL



VIDEO: CARIBS COOL DOWN AFTER WIN

PHOTOS: College of the Bahamas Caribs vs TCI U-23

STRETCH: College of the Bahamas Carib soccer players cool down on the COB pitch after defeated Turks and Caicos' Under-23 side 2-1 in a friendly fixture on Tuesday. 

LISTENING: COB Carib members listen to coaches after beating TCI 2-1 on Tuesday. 

MEETING: COB Carib coaches talk to the team after the win over TCI. 

FANS: COB president Dr Betsy Vogel Boze, COB VP Dr Eslyn Jones and Athletic Director Kim Rolle watch the match on Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Palm Sunday at St. Matthew 2012

VIDEO: Palm Sunday at St. Matthew's Bahamas

Palm Sunday at St. Matthew's Church in Nassau, Bahamas.