Suisse Security Bank and Trust Ltd (SSBT) Loses Privy Council Appeal on Its License Revocation By The Central Bank of The Bahamas

Harajchi Loses Appeal 

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

14 March 2006

...the Central Bank governor was well within his legal rights to shut the bank down.

Saying that it would have been "inconceivable" for the Central Bank governor to have allowed Mohamad Harajchi’s Suisse Security Bank to continue operating, the Privy Council yesterday rejected the bank’s bid to have the decision of then governor Julian Francis overturned.

The high court said that SSBT’s audited accounts and its most recent quarterly reports to the Central Bank were "evidently erroneous".

"SSBT did not have cash on hand and in banks in the sums stated," said the ruling, which was written by Lord Mance.

The ruling said "the state of affairs disclosed by the evidence before their Lordships makes it inconceivable that SSBT could be allowed to continue as an operating bank", and the high court said it saw no basis on which to set aside or remit the governor’s decision to revoke SSBT’s licence and dismissed the appeal.

The bank’s licence was granted on July 20, 1993, and on March 5, 2001, Mr. Francis gave notice that he was of the opinion that the licence should be revoked on the ground that SSBT was carrying on its business in a manner detrimental to the public interest and to the interests of its depositors and other creditors.

Also on March 5, 2001, the governor appointed Raymond Winder as receiver of SSBT, but Mr. Winder had been unable to share the bank’s assets among its depositors and creditors because the appeal had been outstanding.

Mr. Harajchi had appealed a June 29, 2004 decision from the Court of Appeal, which dismissed an appeal filed as a result of the April 25, 2003 ruling handed down by Justice Austin Davis.  Justice Davis refused to overturn Mr. Francis’s decision to revoke the licence.

In a press release issued yesterday after the ruling was handed down, the Central Bank said it will take immediate steps to have Mr. Winder (now the provisional liquidator) appointed as liquidator of SSBT so that the company may be wound up and its assets duly distributed.

Attorneys for SSBT had argued before the Privy Council that by suspending, then revoking SSBT’s licence, the governor acted in breach of an interlocutory injunction granted by Justice Hartman Longley on March 2, 2001 in separate judicial review proceedings commenced by SSBT against the governor on February 22, 2001.

They had also argued that the governor, in breach of principals of procedural fairness, failed to give notice to SSBT prior to or on March 5, 2001 that he was minded to suspend its licence on the grounds on which he actually suspended it on that date, together with an opportunity to respond before he took any such step.

The third issue that the Privy Council considered was whether the governor, in breach of principals of procedural fairness revoked SSBT’s licence on April 2, 2001 on grounds different from, or additional to, those of which he had given notice on March 5, 2001, without giving SSBT an opportunity to respond to such new grounds, and in circumstances in which he did not regard the grounds of which he had given notice on March 5, 2001 as justifying such revocation.

In outlining the facts of the case, the ruling said during the second half of 2000 and early 2001 the Central Bank in correspondence and meetings insisted to SSBT that SSBT should as quickly as possible attract a significant institutional shareholder, that it should maintain a ratio of deposits to capital of 5 to 1 and that SSBT should commission a special audit of its debit card activities.

The ruling said it is the requirement to maintain the 5 to 1 ratio that was "particularly relevant" to the appeal before the Privy Council.

In a letter dated May 6, 1993, which preceded the issue of the bank’s licence, the Central Bank said that the ratio was the first "prudential norm" to which SSBT was to adhere.

The ruling said that as at September 30, 1999 SSBT’s audited accounts showed shareholders funds of $5,891,280.

In a note headed "contingency", the ruling said, SSBT had disclosed a United States judgment and stated that SSBT was appealing, but that it had paid $1.6 million into a trust account and that ‘the bank’s principal shareholder has committed to underwrite any potential loss resulting from this matter’.

In July 2000 the Central Bank sought explanations regarding SSBT’s apparently increased profitability shown by its quarterly return as at March 31, 2000 and a Visa debit card operation, about which it had not previously been informed and of which it feared use might be made by criminal elements for money laundering.

The ruling also said that at a meeting between Mr. Francis and Mr. Harajchi on August 21, 2000, the governor also objected to SSBT’s ownership being in the hands of a single family, the extent of 77.5 percent of its share capital, and urged the introduction of a significant institutional shareholder, which Mr. Harajchi refused.

The Central Bank ordered SSBT to find such a shareholder within six months.  It also confirmed its concern about SSBT’s Visa operation.

The Central Bank also ordered SSBT not to exceed the 5:1 ratio pending introduction of a credible institutional shareholder, but the ruling said SSBT soon exceeded the ratio.

On December 7, 2000, the governor expressed his disappointment in the bank’s failure to respect the Central Bank’s directive with regard to a prudential limit of $30 million it had placed on customer deposits and other funding activities, even though Mr. Harajchi had agreed to this limit and cautioned that "it is a very dangerous strategy to violate limits placed on the bank" and that "this clearly indicates as a complete failure to monitor our limit placed on the bank".

The ruling then goes into a lengthy series of correspondence between the parties, determining ultimately that based on the bank’s state of affairs, the Central Bank governor was well within his legal rights to shut the bank down.

The Privy Council said that the parties involved in the appeal have 14 days in which to make submissions in writing on costs in light of its opinion.

No Case of Bird Flu Found in The Bahamas

 Tourism Officials Seek To Calm Bird Flu Fears

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, Bahamas

3 March 06

 

 

 

 

 

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism has flown into damage control mode to avoid any fallout from reports that spread internationally this week that health experts were investigating to determine whether dead birds found on Inagua had avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.

 

This came even as Ministry of Agriculture experts said that they had determined that there was no bird flu and the birds ‐ including flamingos ‐ died of other causes like old age.

 

In the House of Assembly on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Perry Christie told parliamentary colleagues that his government would continue investigations to make absolutely certain that the initial findings were accurate and he was certain that they were.

 

But reports of the bird flu fears had already spread rapidly around the world as reflected in scores of stories on the Internet.

 

Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine admitted on Thursday that those reports had created some jitters.

 

"We are absolutely concerned about the reports and the nature of the reporting because the fact of the matter is it's important for Bahamians to understand that there's no such thing as local news," Ms. Walkine told The Bahama Journal.

 

"It is entirely possible for every Bahamian at some point or the other to cause a crisis to be created."

 

She said last week she had spoken to a group of people in Exuma about the impact that words can have on the tourism industry and she believes that mere reports that officials were investigating to determine whether the dead birds had bird flu could have done serious harm.

 

Ms. Walkine said despite the report experts made that the birds did not have bird flu there are still some people who will remain suspicious about whether tourism and other Bahamian officials were trying to "bury the story".

 

"I think in the fullness of time it will go away," she said of the story, noting that the tourism business is a very sensitive one.

 

"People need to feel safe and secure when they travel abroad for vacation and we've always promoted ourselves as safe and secure and if you have even a hint of bird flu, [that] could be potentially dangerous."

 

Ms. Walkine appeared happy to report on Thursday that there had been no cancellations as a result of the story of the bird flu fears.

 

"It's important for us to pay attention to these kinds of stories that have that potentially negative impact on the tourism business," she said.

 

On Thursday, a release issued on the World Wide Web by PRNewswire said that preliminary field reports on the investigation of unexplained deaths of birds on Inagua were exaggerated.

 

The press release that went out internationally also noted that the senior veterinary officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources indicated that only five birds were involved in the reported incident on Inagua, reducing the likelihood of an outbreak of avian influenza H5N1.

 

"It is to be noted that other countries in the region have had similar scares recently and that mortality of birds [has been] attributed to other causes and not the deadly H5N1, which to date has been confirmed in Europe, Asia and Africa," the release added.

 

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the United States more than tripled its national flu medication stockpiles as The Bahamas tested whether the dead birds had carried the Western Hemisphere's first cases of avian influenza.

 

That same report said that the U.S. government on Wednesday ordered additional courses of flu treatment, raising the country's National Strategic Stockpile to almost 20 million courses of treatment.

 

Meanwhile, veterinary experts said that the presence of the deadly H5N1 would have decimated the large flock of flamingoes and other birds on that island.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources assured that it will continue to investigate all reports of unexplained bird mortality.

 

It said that the birds involved in the incident appear to have been dead for several days, and the senior veterinary officer reported that there had been no new incidents of avian mortality reported on Inagua.

Without Reforms, The Bahamas’ Current Education “Crisis” Would Have a Detrimental Impact on The National Economy by The Year 2020

The Bahamas Ministry of Education reported a national average of D this year among students who took The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams

Education “In Crisis”

By Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

candiadames@hotmail.com

16 December 2005

A coalition of private-sector organizations on Thursday warned that the country’s present education “crisis” would have a serious and detrimental impact on the national economy by the year 2020 if immediate steps are not taken to put in place reforms.

"A general low level of academic achievement has individual, national and international consequences," the group says in a new report titled, "Bahamian Youth: The Untapped Resource."

Frank Comito, executive vice president of the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA), said the consequences of not addressing the present crisis would be dire.

"Twenty years down the line we could find ourselves in a very uncompetitive situation where our cost of living would be incredibly high and our productivity would be incredibly low and the amount of dollars circulating through the economy because of that would be minimized and it could have severe consequences not only on every individual in The Bahamas, but certainly on government revenues and support services and everything else," Mr. Comito said.

The report says that while the Education Department has a good testing system, the test scores suggest significant deficiencies.

The Ministry of Education reported a national average of D this year among students who took The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams.

In 2004, 5,741 students wrote the exams, but only 718 or 12.5 percent earned a minimum C grade average in five subjects, the report notes.

It says there is a "serious" lack of graduates prepared to enter college.

The coalition says its analysis suggests that the education crisis in The Bahamas has deep roots.

"Education reform will be successful only with a sustained commitment of every element of society, every stakeholder and every political party," the report says.  "Education reform must stand high on the national list of priorities over the long haul."

The release of the coalition’s report came days after the Ministry of Education said in a press statement that it was preparing to announce certain initiatives to address systematic deficiencies.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, President of The Bahamas Hotel Employers Association J. Barrie Farrington said local businesspeople are becoming increasingly concerned about the education level of job candidates, many of whom are barely literate.

"In the first quarter of this year, a group of like-minded Bahamians discussed their common problems and agreed that the state of education in The Bahamas was unacceptable," Mr. Farrington said.

"It was obvious to them that the Bahamian education system was not producing the graduates able to engage in business.  This awareness is grounded in daily experience."

One Bahamian executive reportedly found that job candidates could not write a simple paragraph with clear sentences.  Another reported that applicants were doing poorly on aptitude tests.

The report points to the implementation of policies under Majority Rule that had "adverse" side effects.

One such policy was the end of academic elitism, which the report says is most often associated with the history of the "old" Government High School (GHS), which was founded in 1925 and closed in 1976.

The report notes that the school’s enrollment was limited by its capacity and candidates were selected in part on the basis of entrance exams.  The school sought the best and brightest students and tried to provide a superior academic education, the report says.

It adds that the elimination of this kind of system within the public school system caused education to suffer.

The second policy, the report says, called for a preference for Bahamian teachers in the school system.

But the report says the Bahamianization policy had the effect of precipitously reducing the qualifications of teachers.

"This meant that less than 10 percent of the teachers hired had the minimum high school grade level to enter college," the report says.

"One must note that another unintended consequence of Bahamianization was the social promotion of students…students could now advance in grade without passing the grade."

The report also says, "Perhaps the most disabling factor affecting academic achievement in The Bahamas today is out-of-wedlock children and the single parent, female-headed family."

Mr. Farrington called the comprehensive document a "good news, bad news" report, noting that it points to certain strategies that can help to address the education crisis.

"The responsibilities of teachers, parents and students must be clear; and non-compliance must have real consequences," the report says.  "Penalties for parents similar to those associated with the compulsory school attendance would be an appropriate place to start."

It says a second barrier to improving the education system is governance.

The report notes that the Education Act requires an annual report to parliament on the state of education and for the last decade the government has not used this formal requirement as an opportunity to focus parliamentary and public attention on this critical national issue."

The coalition recommends that the Grade Level Assessment test be redesigned so The Bahamas would be able to measure its progress against other countries.

It also recommends that education authority be decentralized so that principals would have more authority; longer school hours; summer school and an end to social promotion.

But the report says, "Neither social promotion nor holding back without help is a successful strategy."

Additionally, the coalition recommends parent seminars; teacher evaluation and compensation; and an all male laboratory school.

The coalition includes: the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce; the Bahamas Employers Confederation; the National Congress of Trade Unions; the Bahamas Hotel Association; the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union; the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association; and the Nassau Tourism and Development Board.

The Latest Unemployment Numbers Released in The Bahamas

The unemployment rate for women in The Bahamas showed a slight increase, whereas that of men a slight decrease

Unemployment Rate Unchanged

 

 

By Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

28 October 2005

 

 

 

 

 

Officials of the Department of Statistics released new numbers on Thursday that show that the unemployment rate over the last year has remained unchanged, standing at 10.2 percent.

Officials said the total number of unemployed during the "reference" or "snapshot" week in April, stood at 18,175, an increase of 185 people over 2004.

The unemployment rate in Grand Bahama was actually higher than the national rate, standing at 11 percent, up from 9.3 percent in 2004, according to the report.

The new data shows that there were 3,000 people in Grand Bahama recorded as unemployed, up from 2,465 in 2004, but officials said that was not enough to drive the national rate beyond the 10.2 percent recorded last year.

Cypreanna Winters, a statistician at the department, recognized that the results may come as a surprise to some people, but she added, "We are definition driven.  Of course we know people wouldn’t agree with us."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines employed persons as, "All persons 15 years of age and over who work for pay anytime during the reference week or who worked without pay for at least one hour in a family operated business or a person who was temporarily absent from their regular job because of vacation, illness etc."

The ILO defines unemployed persons as, "All persons 15 years of age and over who did not work or have a job from which they were temporarily absent during the reference week, but were actively looking for work in the four weeks prior to the survey week and were able and willing to work."

Discouraged workers were defined as "All persons who may or may not have worked before, are able and willing to work, but are not actively seeking work because they believe they would not find it.  They are not considered to be a part of the labour force."

When asked why the hundreds of people who lost their jobs – particularly in Grand Bahama – following hurricanes Frances and Jeanne last year did not push the unemployment rate up, Ms. Winters explained that many of them would either have found jobs or are classified as discouraged workers.

Officials said they do not count discouraged workers as part of the unemployed although they too are jobless.

"There is a thin line between an unemployed person and a discouraged worker," Ms. Winters said.  "We have to be guided by our [internationally-accepted] definitions."

Assistant Director of the Department of Statistics Leona Wilson reported that while the national unemployment figure is 10.2 percent, there is a noted difference when examined by sex.

The unemployment rate for women showed a slight increase, whereas that of men a slight decrease.

Unemployment among women was recorded at 11.2 percent, up from 11 percent in 2004; and the unemployment among men was recorded at 9.2 percent, down from 9.4 percent in 2004.

Ms. Wilson also reported that preliminary results show that 2,375 persons were added to the labour force in 2005, an increase of 1.3 percent over the previous year.  This includes unemployed and employed persons.

Women were the main contributor to this growth (1,485 compared to men who numbered 890).

The data also indicated that 2,190 of the 2,375 persons got jobs and females outnumbered the males at 1,180, compared to 1,010.

Over the last 10 years, the unemployment rate was at its lowest point in 2001, when it stood at 6.9 percent.  It jumped to 9.1 percent in 2002, climbed to 10.8 percent in 2003, and showed a slight drop to 10.2 percent in 2004.

Over the last decade, the unemployment rate was at its highest point in 1996 when it stood at 11.5 percent, up from 10.9 percent the previous year.

In 1992, the unemployment rate was 14.8 percent.  The unemployment rate was highest in an independent Bahamas in 1975 when it stood at 21.2 percent.

The Promised National Health Insurance (NHI) Plan in The Bahamas

No Definite Plan on How National Health Insurance Would Be Financed in The Bahamas

Timing of National Health Insurance Remains Uncertain

By: Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

21 October 2005

It remains unclear whether the government will establish the promised National Health Insurance Plan before the end of this term, but Prime Minister Perry Christie said on Wednesday that he is still committed to making such a scheme a reality.

The National Health Insurance Plan was a major campaign promise of the Progressive Liberal Party in 2002, with Mr. Christie continuing to tout the importance of it as prime minister.

Early in his term, he appointed a 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission on National Health Insurance, headed by Dr. Perry Gomez, to examine the feasibility of such a scheme.

On Wednesday, Member of Parliament for South Andros Whitney Bastian asked Prime Minister Christie whether national health insurance will be in place before the end of this term.

It was a question that the prime minister failed to answer in any specifics, saying only that Cabinet will make a decision on that.

He did, however, point to the "urgency" of looking into such a plan.

"From a personal point of view I wanted it to happen," he said.  "Cabinet obviously has to make a decision on it.  It is something that I heralded from the platforms during the last campaign.  It is something that I have always believed to be of vital importance to the poor of this country."

Mr. Christie said the recent poverty study tabled in the House of Assembly by Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin is evidence that there is a significant portion of the population desperately in need of national health insurance.

The poverty study found that just under 10 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.

"Poverty obviously creates a real problem in our country, particularly as you go to the islands," the prime minister acknowledged.  "When you reach Andros and go farther south it’s from 12 percent to 20 percent."

The prime minister did not give a timeline, but he said that he will make a communication to parliament as soon as his government makes a decision on national health insurance.

Dr. Gomez told The Bahama Journal several months ago that the government had appointed a planning committee to formulate specifics as it relates to national health insurance after signing off on all of the recommendations of the commission.

But while the committee was working aggressively to come up with the right formula for the scheme, it had not yet come up with a definite plan for how national health insurance would be financed, he said at the time.

Nevertheless, he indicated that the plan is no longer a matter of "if", but "when".

"The social health insurance levels the playing field in health," Dr. Gomez told The Bahama Journal.  "I believe that health is a right of individuals, not a gift; it’s not a privilege.  All people are entitled to the best of health care that their countries can afford, regardless of the individuals’ ability to pay.

"That’s a problem we have in our country to a large extent.  There is a discrepancy between the health care of the haves and those who have not and I think the best way of trying to address this issue is by finding some means of insuring the entire population and the best way to do that from all I have looked at and the Blue Ribbon Commission has studied is through this programme of social health insurance."

At the time, Dr. Gomez indicated that the development of the scheme is "highly technical" and he indicated that one of the more difficult challenges faced by authorities is coming up with a cost structure for the plan.

Supporters of Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Senator Tommy Turnquest along with some FNM Action Group members Attack Hubert Ingraham

FNMs Attack Ingraham

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

October 10, 2005

Supporters of Free National Movement Leader Senator Tommy Turnquest, including some members of the FNM Action Group, have launched what has amounted to a campaign to block the return of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as leader of the party.

"Hubert Ingraham ‐ you are still the most hated man in this country and the people will remind you of it if you go back on your word and challenge Tommy Turnquest as leader," said a letter forwarded to the press by supporters of Senator Turnquest over the weekend.

The scathing letter blames Mr. Ingraham for certain "failures", but does not acknowledge that Senator Turnquest was also a part of the Cabinet when those alleged failures occurred.

The letter came more than a week after FNM MP's secured the support of the party's Central Council to have Mr. Ingraham replace Alvin Smith as the FNM's parliamentary leader.

The vote has resulted in a fierce internal battle in the party as observers wait to see if Mr. Smith will resign as leader of the Official Opposition.

Oswald Marshall, chairman of the Action Group, who commented on the matter on Saturday, said he doubts Mr. Ingraham will become the parliamentary leader.

"I don't expect Ingraham [to return]," Mr. Marshall added. "They had some kind of idea that they would push Ingraham to the front of the party by getting him to take over leadership (in the House).  I think they polluted that process and I understand that he is not doing that anymore.  The council members [who voted against the move] felt that this was a prelude to Ingraham taking over the party."

The letter from Senator Turnquest's supporters reminds council members who supported Mr. Ingraham's return that it was the former prime minister "who botched the referendum" in 2002.

The letter continues: "It was Hubert Ingraham that promoted and left PLP's in office while you the FNM controlled the government.

"It was Hubert Ingraham that destroyed the financial services sector through the enactment of ill-advised legislation;

"It was Hubert Ingraham that bludgeoned Batelco by giving packages to existing management and staff who were performing and performing well; "It was Hubert Ingraham that had all of the major unions up in arms through his policies and action;

"It was Hubert Ingraham who expelled senior men in the FNM who had been with the party way before he was on the scene."

The letter says, "Men such as Tennyson Wells and Pierre Dupuch, loyal supporters of ideals of the party, were discarded by Hubert Ingraham."

Although it was a claim former Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson denied when he appeared on the Love 97 programme, "Jones and Company" just over a week ago.

Supporters of Senator Turnquest also accused Mr. Ingraham of operating "on his own terms without regard to his ministers."

The letter also accused the former prime minister of doing as he wished without reference to the concerns of the Bahamian electorate.

"He did not listen and the people just as they fell in love with him in 1992 and 1997 - hated him in 2002 and consequently voted the FNM out.  That is why we lost by the margins we did, it said."

The letter added, "Now Mr. Ingraham seeks to use the FNM once more for his own selfish gain by sending his hatchet men such as Frank Watson, Hubert Minnis, Brent Symonette and those less than men parliamentarians to say the party needs him.

"No way, do we need Hubert Ingraham to lead this party.  We have a leader of our own; one bred in the party - who paid his dues and has risen to the leadership position."

The letter continues, "We have reached an important milestone in the FNM when history will judge our actions as we prepare for the election in 2006 or 2007.  Do we [want to] embrace a new leader who will take care of FNM's in a fair way or do we bring back a rejected man?

"Tommy Turnquest may not be perfect in everyone's eye, but he is 100 percent FNM."

When he spoke with The Bahama Journal on Thursday, Senator Turnquest said he had "no idea" whether Mr. Ingraham will become the new parliamentary leader as the other FNM MP's wish.

But he reiterated that the former prime minister has assured him that he has no plans to again seek the leadership post of the FNM. 

Hubert Ingraham is Back!

Ingraham Bounces Back

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

In a rowdy session of the Central Council of the Free National Movement last night, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was sanctioned as the new leader of the party in the House of Assembly.

Even though more than 170 council members were expected to have voted, only 128 did so with 88 voting in favour of Mr. Ingraham leading the Official Opposition while 40 voted against the move.

The FNM House members were joyful of the outcome of the vote, but their detractors pointed out that it is clear that Mr. Ingraham does not enjoy the full support of the council as one third of those who voted, voted against his return as the parliamentary leader of the party.

One council member said, "This is not a good position for a former prime minister to be in."

The council voted against the wishes of the party leader, Senator Tommy Turnquest.

"We had a wonderful council meeting today," Mr. Turnquest said early this morning as excited council members filed out of the party’s Mackey Street headquarters.

"We had 131 out of 172 councilors that were here.  People spoke freely.  It was a wonderful evening [and] the FNM continues to demonstrate its principles of democracy, freewill and free speech."

Asked whether he felt threatened by the fact that the overwhelming vote was in support of Mr. Ingraham, Mr. Turnquest responded, "I think Mr. Ingraham is a wonderful person to lead the FNM team in parliament.  He and I are extremely close and we’ll continue to be close and work together, he as leader of the Opposition and me as leader of the party."

He was also asked whether Mr. Ingraham will enter parliament next Wednesday as the leader of the Official Opposition.

Mr. Turnquest said, "That wasn’t decided here tonight and that cannot be decided here tonight."

But former Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson had a different view of what last night’s vote meant.

"I think that the council made a decision in the best interest of the party and our country in selecting the Right Honourable Hubert Ingraham to be our leader in the House of Assembly," Mr. Watson told The Bahama Journal.

"The present leader, the Hon. Alvin Smith, with go to Government House and tender his resignation and members of the Opposition will then present Mr. Ingraham to the governor general as their leader."

He added, "I expect by the next sitting of the House Mr. Ingraham will take his position as leader of the Opposition in the House.  By Monday, I expect [Mr. Smith to resign]."

South Abaco MP Robert Sweeting said the opposition MP’s got exactly what they wanted.

"As we know, he has a vast amount of experience in politics.  He served both in opposition and in government…I think the PLP tonight is as scared as a rattlesnake," Mr. Sweeting said.

Montagu MP Brent Symonette said after the meeting that the vote shows that the FNM is live and "very democratic."

"We think Mr. Ingraham, who is the most experienced Member of Parliament, is certainly very capable," Mr. Symonette said.  "He’s shown from his track record he’s able to articulate, direct and lead."

Asked whether he wishes to see Mr. Ingraham lead the party, Mr. Symonette said, "I’m not going to make any comment about that at the moment.

Tonight was about our leadership in the House of Assembly and it’s not to be confused with the leadership of the party, which is an issue that convention decides in November."

He was also asked whether Mr. Ingraham is even interested in leading the FNM MP’s.

"I think the FNM MP’s wouldn’t have come to council tonight unless we had an indication from Mr. Ingraham that he was interested in leading the party and willing to so do.  We have met with Mr. Ingraham, as we have met with Mr. Turnquest.  So I think [if] Mr. Ingraham was not interest we wouldn’t have come here tonight."

High Rock MP Kenneth Russell, who was running to catch a ride at the time he spoke with The Bahama Journal, said the process was "interesting" and promised to elaborate when the House meets next Wednesday.

Former MP Anthony "Boozie" Rolle said the FNM showed once again that it is a party that relies heavily on democratic principles.

"The significance [of this] is that we would now have the most experienced member of the House of Assembly leading the charge in the House of Assembly."

Free National Movement Chairman Carl Bethel also believes the result was an "exultation of democracy."

"[Mr. Ingraham] will be opposition leader in parliament under the Constitution…how far that goes and where that takes him is really for him to decide.

"What is plain is that the party is seeking to marshal its hardest hitters, its heaviest hitters, and bring our big guns to the forefront because we are entering into a very crucial election period where it is plainly in the national interest of the Bahamian people that they be saved from this inept…and do nothing, directionless government," Mr. Bethel said.

Not everyone outside the FNM headquarters after midnight supported Mr. Ingraham leading the Official Opposition.

"I view this as a prelude to another exercise…I do not believe Ingraham is going to accept being the leader in the Opposition.  That is to be seen," said Oswald Marshall.

Noel Sutherland, another council member, added, "As difficult as it might be seen for the party to go along with this whole thing, it’s a difficult thing to be seen to not support your parliamentarians."

Former Senator Lawrence Glinton, meanwhile, said as a result of last night’s vote, the party’s chances of winning the next general elections have been "enhanced immeasurably."

"He will bring a strong opposition force to parliament and it will awaken the Bahamian people to the need to change this government," Mr. Glinton said.

Mr. Ingraham was not present for the historic meeting.  Some supporters of Mr. Turnquest viewed last night’s vote as a backdoor attempt by supporters of the former prime minister to get him back as leader of the Free National Movement.