In 2015, the Bahamas was governed by the centre-right Free National Movement (FNM) which held a majority in parliament. The government was led by Prime Minister Perry Christie who had been in power since 2012. The FNM focused on economic growth and development, particularly through public and private sector reforms. This included cutting taxes for businesses, investing in infrastructure projects, and encouraging foreign investment. See ehealthfacts for Bahamas in the year of 2005.
The main opposition party in the Bahamas is the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), which is led by Philip Brave Davis. The PLP is a centre-left party which has traditionally been critical of government policies concerning social welfare and foreign policy. In 2015, they continued to be vocal critics of government policies but were unable to make any major gains in parliament due to their fractured nature. Other minor political parties such as the Democratic National Alliance also competed in 2015’s elections but failed to gain any significant traction with voters.
Yearbook 2015
Bahamas. Several major drug seizures were made during the year. In June, a boat with about 500 tons of marijuana aboard was stopped. In September, close to 1.5 million tonnes of marijuana were seized on boats off the coast of Bahamas. The smugglers were on their way to the United States with their forbidden cargo. The crime in the country also resulted in a record number of murders. Already in November, the previous “record listing” of 2011 was passed on 127 murders when a 17-year-old boy passed away after he was stabbed at a party. According to COUNTRYAAH, Nassau is the capital of Bahamas which is located in North America. The Bahamas is one of the countries in the world with the most per capita killings.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Bahamas country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In June, the Bahamas was included in a list published by the EU with a total of 30 countries and territories described as tax havens. Bahamas Finance Minister Hope Strachan called for the list to be withdrawn, pointing out the unfortunate nature of publishing such a list when the Bahamas and other countries began work to prevent tax evasion.
In September, the Bahamas took new steps to protect the country’s marine and coastal environments by creating 15 new national parks and expanding three others. The very powerful hurricane Joaquin hit several islands in the Bahamas in September-October severely, including major flooding as a result.
HISTORY
To one of the Bahamas islands (Watling or San Salvador) landed by C. Colombo in 1492. They were then explored by Ponce de León (1512 and following), and annexed to Spain. In 1627 the English settled in New Providence and then took over most of the other islands. Disputes followed with the Spaniards (who exterminated the natives) and fights with the buccaneers who had made it their base until the reestablishment of British rule in 1718. In 1940 Great Britain leased a naval base on the island to the USA for 99 years. Mayaguana.
British colony until 1964, when they obtained internal self-government, the Bahamas became independent within the Commonwealth in 1973. The dominant political force until 1992 was the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), born in the 1950s as an expression of the African-American majority pro-independence and led by L. Pindling, who established a policy of close relations with the USA. The hegemony of the PLP wore down during the 1980s, also following the involvement of the government in episodes of corruption connected with the illegal drug trafficking towards the United States, for 10 years the country was led by the conservative Free National Movement (FNM); in the 2002 elections the PLP returned to government, led by Pindling’s successor, who died two years earlier, PG Christie. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, the Free National Movement prevailed, and its leader H. Ingraham returned to the post of prime minister which he had already held from 1992 to 2002. In the recent elections of May 2012, the PLP won the electoral competition and its leader Christie has returned to his seat as prime minister.