Prime Minister of Bahamas Concedes Loss
Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling lost Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, ensuring the Bahamas its first new government in 25 years.
Pindling conceded the race to the Free National Movement, led by Hubert Ingraham. Unofficial, preliminary returns indicated that Ingraham’s party had taken 31 of 49 parliamentary seats.
If Ingraham is officially declared the winner, he will probably be asked to form a new government on Sept. 2.
“The people of this great little democracy have spoken in a most dignified and elegant manner. And the voice of the people is the voice of God,” Pindling said.
Recession and high unemployment had helped create a political fight this time for Pindling, 62, who guided the 700-island nation to independence from Britain in 1973.
In recent years, tourism has declined and hotels have closed, aggravating unemployment and crime in a largely urban population. Four-fifths of the Bahamas’ 255,000 citizens live in Nassau and Freeport.
Pindling, the leader of the People’s Liberation Party, had put his 25-year rule on the line against Ingraham, a lawyer who called for change.
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