BAHAMAS PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED BEFORE GENERAL ELECTIONS

The Bahamian Parliament will be dissolve next week, just ahead of upcoming general elections.

On Sunday, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that Parliament will be dissolved next Tuesday April 11, and encouraged voters to register by Monday the 10th.

Christie also announced that writs of the election will be issued on the same day, but did not give the exact date of general elections, although his office confirmed that CARICOM election officials have been invited to monitor the polls next month.

Both the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the opposition Free National Movement (FNM) have already completed their slates of candidates for the upcoming election, and begun campaigning.

It is estimated that almost 160,000 Bahamians are currently registered to vote – which is less than half of the overall population.  That number is expected to vastly increase over the next several days, and surpass the 172,000 voters in the last elections held in 2012, that saw PM Christie’s Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) winning 30 of 38 seats in Parliament.