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Christie takes ‘No’ verdict personally

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Tribune Staff Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net  THE day after the resounding rejection of all four of the constitutional referendum questions, Prime Minister Perry Christie conceded that he was personally “disappointed� with the event’s outcome, saying he had hoped that the country would have voted ‘yes’, therefore lifting the Bahamas to a historic level.

Admitting that his administration has a “history� after going against the overwhelming ‘no’ votes of the 2013 gaming referendum, Mr Christie said the government now had to look at the implications of this decision and also examine other factors that may have contributed to the failure of Tuesday’s referendum.

However he insisted that the results of the referendum in his view were not an expression of a lack of confidence in the government.

Mr Christie told reporters that the government made every effort to ensure that the process was bi-partisan and transparent.

Earlier, while speaking in the House of Assembly before debate began on the 2016/2017 budget, Mr Christie told parliamentarians that the voice of the people had sounded in the land. He said this needed to be respected and would be. “There is personal disappointment for me clearly because I voted ‘yes’ to all four of the questions,� Mr Christie told reporters yesterday following the morning session of the House of Assembly.

SEE PAGE THREE

NOTTAGE ‘DOESN’T KNOW IF ANYTHING WENT WRONG’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net NATIONAL Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, who has responsibility for elections, was unemotional yesterday in the face of the outrage Bahamians have expressed over the Parliamentary Registration

Department’s confusing and delayed process in announcing results of Tuesday’s constitutional referendum. “I don’t know what went wrong or if anything went wrong,� he told reporters at the House of Assembly.

SEE PAGE SIX

PRIME Minister Perry Christie and Dr Bernard Nottage, Minister of National Security, outside the House of Assembly yesterday after the referendum defeat.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

JUST THREE CONSTITUENCIES BACKED ANY OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

ONLY three constituencies across the country voted by consensus to approve any of the four gender equality bills proposed in Tuesday’s Constitutional Referendum, according to unofficial results released by the Bahamas Parliamentary Registration Department yesterday.

St Anne’s, with 1,205 yes votes to 1,078 no votes, Montagu, 1,315 to 1,130, and Central and South Abaco, 737 to 591, supported the passage of Bill one, which sought to give Bahamian women married to foreign men the right to pass on their Bahamian citizenship to any child of that union no matter where that child is born.

Moreover, Killarney, with 12 of its 13 polling sta-

‘MINNIS PLAYED PART IN FAILURE’

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net  LONG ISLAND MP Loretta Butler-Turner suggested yesterday that FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis should accept responsibility for the part he played

in Tuesday’s failed gender equality referendum.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mrs Butler-Turner said she feels Dr Minnis should have “stood by his original convictions� and not “shift mid-stream SEE PAGE TWO

tions reported, is set to approve the passage of both Bill one - 1,688 yes votes to 1,299 no - and possibly Bill three (1,526 to 1,500).

Bill three sought to grant any unmarried Bahamian man the right to pass on his Bahamian citizenship to any child he fathers with a foreign woman with proof of paternity.

No other constituency was able to secure a majority “yes� to any of the

four bills, rejecting all four amendments resoundingly.

Up to press time, The Tribune was still without the results of four of the 23 New Providence constituencies - Fort Charlotte, Fox Hill, Marathon and Sea Breeze - with officials contending that totals still had to be signed off by presiding officers.

SEE PAGE 13

CALL FOR ELECTION MONITORS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net  FREE National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday called for “international organisations� to chaperone the 2017 general election, as

he highlighted a number of “irregularities� that allegedly took place during Tuesday’s gender equality referendum.

Dr Minnis, in a press conference yesterday morning in the House of SEE PAGE FIVE

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PAGE 2, Thursday, June 9, 2016

‘MINNIS PLAYED PART IN FAILURE’

I believe that when you determine you are going to do something and you make agreements and you make public announcements, you should stand by what you say. I feel the leader of our party should have stood by the convictions that he originally said the party line will take.’

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Dr Minnis supported the four Constitutional Amendment Bills when they were passed in Parliament in March and has repeatedly said his party believes in gender equality and women’s rights.

In an interview with The Tribune in February, he also said the FNM fully backed the referendum adding: “I am for all four of the bills.”

However, since the vote passed in the House in Assembly, Dr Minnis has been less clear about his position, instead criticising the Christie administration for its handling of the process and accusing the government of pushing the ‘yes’ vote down people’s throats.

On Monday, Dr Minnis refused to reveal how he was voting in the equality referendum. When asked

by The Tribune if he was for or against the amendments to the Constitution, Dr Minnis said his vote is “private and confidential”.

Mrs Butler-Turner said Dr Minnis’ refusal to state his position “was very disconcerting” especially since the FNM has historically been the party that has supported gender equality.

“I believe that when you determine you are going to do something and you make agreements and you make public announcements, you should stand by what you say. I feel the leader of our party should have stood by the convictions that he originally said the party line will take,” Mrs ButlerTurner said.

“I feel as though Prime Minister Perry Christie should be blamed, but the FNM is trying to be the

alternative government and leaders stand by their convictions and are very clear in their directions for those of us who are being guided by them. It was disconcerting because the FNM has historically been the party that has supported the referendum. We brought the very first one (in 2002) and we are also the party that introduced many firsts for women in this country.”

Mrs Butler-Turner, who supported the YES Bahamas campaign, said she has “no issues” with the results of the referendum but she hopes it is something that can be “revisited” in the future.

“This country is young and still has room for growth. I think when you are in a leading role, consistency is a huge part of your credibility. As a leader you have to make a decision and stand firm, sometimes you are on the right side, sometimes you are on the wrong side but you have to be on a side,” Mrs ButlerTurner said.

“I have no issues with the vote, it is (the) art of democracy and hopefully it can be revisited.”

Voters “overwhelmingly” rejected the four referendum questions on Tuesday, according to Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall.

Only a handful of results were released Tuesday night by the Parliamentary Registration Department due to numerous technical setbacks.

On Tuesday morning, ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he was “disappointed” that the Official Opposition, who “once stood shoulder to shoulder” with him on the constitutional referendum, has decided to “back away” publicly from supporting the vote.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 3

McWeeney admits lack of trust affected result

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net DISTRUST in the government was a big factor in the failure of Tuesday’s referendum, Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney said yesterday.

Both Prime Minister Perry Christie and National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage shied away yesterday from acknowledging the role dissatisfaction in the government may have contributed to the referendum’s outcome. However, Mr McWeeney, one of Mr Christie’s advisors, was not evasive about this element.

“No question about it,” Mr McWeeney told The Tribune when asked about the matter outside the House of Assembly yesterday.

“There’s no question that the experience of the

gaming referendum and the fallout from that and the feeling that the government was perhaps not serious about honouring the expressed issues of the people, that clearly was a major factor. I think there was also some payback for 2002 involved. There was a sense that the government when it was in opposition had reneged on its promise and commitment in 2002 and I think a lot of FNMs made no secret that this was the time to repay the favours so to speak, but I think clearly the gaming referendum was a much more powerful force at work in this referendum.”

Mr McWeeney and members of the Constitutional Commission had spent much of the last year traversing the country, educating people about the Constitutional Amendment Bills and trying to dismiss concerns that the bills re-

flected an ulterior agenda.

A reflective Mr McWeeney said the significant failure of the referendum has major implications for the government’s desire for constitutional reform in other areas not on Tuesday’s ballot, adding that it will be a long time until another vote on gender equality is brought.

“It will be a long time before something like this is brought back to the people,” he said.

The Constitutional Commission released a report in 2013 recommending that referendums be held to address issues relating not only to citizenship, but also to matters relating to the judiciary, the Senate, the Parliamentary Commission, Cabinet, the powers of the prime minister and the environment.

Tuesday’s vote, Mr McWeeney said, has impacted these plans.

“It does have implications for the other things in the queue because this was sort of a very basic, foundational first round for what was intended to be an extensive programme of constitutional referendums,” he said.

“If we can’t get past this first round for something as simple as men and women being equal, and frankly it really was as simple as that, then I think you need to have a serious rethink about this whole issue of constitutional reform.”

Mr McWeeney said homophobia played a role in the referendum’s failure, along with xenophobia and misogyny.

“We were aware that homophobia was a factor,” he said. “And it wasn’t just the homophobia, it was the xenophobia, fear of foreigners that became a part of bill number two. There

was the misogyny, the belief that men are superior to women which got unfortunately some validation from some unexpected sources which seemed to legitimatise those kinds of feelings and thought. It was a cocktail of some toxic elements and when you put it all together it really indicated the death of the bills.”

He said eliminating the fourth bill would not have made the referendum a success.

“I thinks (Tuesday’s) results showed that (it wouldn’t),” he said.

“The four bills were soundly rejected across the board from one end of the country to the next so bill number four could not by any rational means be brought to bear on bills one, two and three. There was some currents here that went well beyond the issues that developed in relation to bill number four.”

Mr McWeeney said he expects no practical, negative consequence to affect The Bahamas over the ‘no’ vote outcome.

“This will probably cause us to be looked at less favourably by the UN and others because we are clearly lagging behind,” he said. “I think this puts us in the company of just about 20 other countries that have accepted these things as cultural norms. It does cause the ‘enlightened world’ to look at us with a jaundiced eye but I don’t think there will be any practical downside to anything. I think that’s why we were careful not to play that aspect of it up because we know Bahamians resent being told by outside forces what they should and shouldn’t do.

It’s a reality that we are in breach and will continue to be in breach of some of the conventions that we signed on to.”

PM DISAPPOINTED AT VOTE OUTCOME

from page one

“I voted ‘yes’ with my family and they all voted ‘yes’.

So clearly we had hoped that in voting ‘yes’ we would have lifted the Bahamas to an historic level pertaining to constitutional change that was rejected by the people of The Bahamas.

“I am a political person elected to office and therefore I have to understand more than anyone else that my being in politics depends on the will as expressed by the people. Those people who talk and say it is a matter of confidence or lack of confidence in the PLP would not appreciate it.

“Lynn Holowesko was as much out there as I was and she is not a PLP and all the others (the) former candidate Heather Hunt (was) in Grand Bahama and all through and devout FNMs interested in supporting the ‘yes’ vote, so you know people will have an opportunity to see whether or not it was an expression of confidence or lack there of because my name was not on the ballot in this vote. This vote was voting for four questions.”

He continued: “My name will be on the ballot (in an election) and they will have an opportunity obviously when my name is on the ballot and their names are on the ballot for the people of the country to make a decision. That is not very long from now, so throughout all of this I think we must all be mindful of that one reality. That the very same people who voted yesterday will have an opportunity to express themselves in a constitutional general election and we know it must be held

by May of next year. So it’s a matter therefore of what will happen not now, but then.”

Responding briefly to the outcome of Tuesday’s referendum, Mr Christie told the House of Assembly that he was thankful to all of those leaders on both sides of the political divide that supported the constitutional changes.

He said: “I will never stop believing that our sons and daughters deserve equal rights in our Constitution and equal treatment under our laws.

“We believe that when the dust clears, there will be room and time for proper reflection. Although yesterday’s rejection of the gender equality bills is clearly a setback for the programme of constitutional reform, it is by no means an end to it.”

He continued: “Instead the programme of constitutional reform must continue. How, when and in what form it will continue will be the subject of further consultations with my Cabinet, the Constitutional Commission, the opposition and civil society.

“In the meantime, in the wake of the vigorous and fractious debate that we have just come through, we must now find ways to

bridge our differences as we continue our struggle for a better and brighter future for all our people.”

FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis on Tuesday night said the country’s overwhelming rejection of the proposed changes to the Constitution was proof that the public no longer “trusts the Christie administration.”

Dr Minnis told The Tribune that he “had an idea this would be the outcome” because he does not believe many people understood the questions.

Dr Minnis said the government did a “poor job”

PRIME Minister Perry Christie speaking to the media after the budget debate in The House of Assembly yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff Thursday, 9th June 2016

educating the public and it has been reflected in the outcome of the referendum.

When asked if a government led by the FNM would

hold another equality referendum if his party wins the next election, Dr Minnis said: “I would listen to the people.”

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THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

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Queen Hillary hampered by her Achilles heel IF ONE has to explain in a word why Hillary Clinton has made decisions that have undercut her image and left her vulnerable to questions about her ethics and at times even her honesty, it is “imperiousness”.

The former first lady, US senator, secretary of state and now presidential contender has a record of behavior that leaves no other conclusion than that she believes she is intellectually superior to most people. That when she enters a room full of her peers, there is no one smarter. That her motives are pure and free her from the standards that most of us poor mortals are held to.

That attitude manifests itself in the current dust-up over her use of her personal email system while leading the State Department rather than conducting official business over government servers, as legally mandated. She appears to have ignored warnings that doing so could cause trouble in the handling of classified information. Why should anyone question her decision?

Do I believe for a minute she thought there was a national security risk in what she did? I do not, and there is no real evidence that vital information was hacked by either a domestic or foreign source.

Nor do I personally believe she will be held accountable in the aftermath of an FBI investigation. This is merely to analyse what is contributing to her electoral negatives, among the highest for a presidential candidate of her experience in the nation’s history.

Obviously, as those who defend her maintain, one with such broad exposure in high-profile public service over the last quarter century is bound to have made some enemies. After all, along with the weighty political stress has come personal crisis with a marriage threatened by a husband who strayed. Some of the negativity about her clearly stems from the fact she stayed with him, leaving many to believe she did so out of her own Lady Macbeth-like personal ambition rather than love. Horrors! Who ever heard of that?

Clinton’s imperiousness was evident from the moment she stepped through the White House door with her president husband in 1993. Rumors of tantrums, including lamp-throwing and foul-mouthed diatribes and fights with the Secret Service agents assigned to the protective de-

tail were everywhere in Washington. The Secret Service director at the time, John Magaw, was reportedly removed and sent to the Treasury to oversee what today is called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after he complained to the president about her abusiveness to agents.

There were other incidents in the first months of the Clinton administration that showed the president’s lady had a bit more queenliness in her demeanor than denizens of this town had seen in a while.

All that reached its zenith when she was given the job of overseeing her spouse’s primary initiative -- a reform of the nation’s health care system. Her efforts produced a disaster.

One of the reasons was Hillary’s failure to include key Republicans and warnings from health industry experts in the White House drafting, which she held in closed sessions. The huge sweeping proposal was dead on arrival in Congress.

Once again, there were allegations of imperious behavior by the first lady. Soon the late night television comedians and Washington wags were calling the couple “Billary,” a two-for-one presidency.

Throughout her Senate and State Department careers and, for that matter, her failed 2008 candidacy for the Democratic nomination, her staff has remained mostly loyal in their public comments about her, although some have conceded privately that she was demanding and difficult to work for.

Perhaps the best verification that she still suffers from the characteristic of selfanointment was her insistence that not only had she done nothing wrong in using her own email account for official business, it almost was improper to challenge her over such a trivial action also used by others in her job. She, of course, had cooperated with the investigation at least to some degree and she submitted herself to 11 hours of public Congressional interrogation, by the end of which she may have proven she was indeed smarter than most of those on the House committee examining her.

But how much better off would she have been had she in the beginning just conceded that she had made a colossal mistake instead of giving the whole thing a royal flick of the wrist?

Dan K Thomasson, Sun Newspapers

A list of reasons

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ACCORDING to a secretary (- not in this office) the no vote was because of: Confusion/Trust: 1. The confusion over the bills – the wording wasn’t clear enough and the ministers - ( church and politicians) talk about the gay marriages, etc, made it too confusing and they could not trust what they were voting for.

2. REVENGE: a. For the gambling “referendum” b. For the VAT - which has caused businesses to close and jobs to be lost, and could have paid off the debt by now, but hasn’t - we

don’t know what has happened to the VAT. c. For the people who worked at Carnival last year, and have yet to be paid. d. Because of the foreign performers who were paid for this year’s Carnival already and Bahamians haven’t been paid. e. Because the government has visited hardship on the same people who voted for them.

3. The MONEY: • How could it cost $7m to put on this referendum?

• They - the government - just did this now because it was a last chance to dip into the till before the next budget comes into effect at the end of this month.

• And also because the PLP are great at floating ideas, but have yet to bring any about. They promised, but haven’t delivered.

4. Citizenship promises: 1. The rumour is that the government has promised citizenships to the Chinese and wanted to use this to deliver - so the Chinese workers here could marry Bahamian women and stay.

2. They can and will achieve this by legislation and didn’t need the referendum.

These are the reasons that I have been given.

LGBT movement by voting “No” on question four. You see, the “Yes” vote was really the “No” vote and the “No” vote was the “Yes” vote if you follow the reasoning of the Constitutional Commission Chairman in the newspapers a few days ago.

As everyone knows, the PLP seems to have a um...”soft spot” for the “gay agenda”. By getting the electorate to vote “No” to question four they were able to ensure that gays are able to marry under article

26 of the Constitution. Pure genius! Expect a gay marriage in at least one PLP church before the next general election.

The “bottom line” is that gays are now free to marry.

I wonder how easy is it to get a Justice of the Peace license these days? There seems to be a whole lot of money to be made in the gay community within the next few years.

LEANDRA ESFAKIS Nassau, June 8, 2016.

A voice of concern EDITOR, The Tribune.

CALL me naïve and idealistic, but I voted “yes” to all the questions in the recent referendum. It was my first time voting. I thoroughly listened and sought after information for both sides addressing the issue.

Upon conversation with some of my friends, I realised I was one of the only ones doing this type of research. In fact, some of them did not even know what the bills were about and did not care to know!

I know the Vote Yes campaign felt that up until referendum day the educational process that they had completed all over the islands was sufficient and adequate, but it was if many of my fellow young people did not understand these bills at all, and either decided to vote against the bills or not vote at all.

Though I decided to exercise my right to vote and vote in the affirmative, I had already predicted months prior that this entire process would be a calamity and result in a majority “no” vote.

This referendum should have been discussed in public and private high schools from at least 2013 comprehensively, which was a year after that CEDAW document was released. The forums the Vote Yes campaign held were not mandatory, so if you didn’t care, you would never find out about it. The information should have been planted right in front of the people’s faces. That way, the young people now would not be so clueless as to what these bills were about, even today.

A recurrent feeling among my generation also

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net is that “The government is just going to do what they want to do anyway, so I don’t care. They don’t care about us.”

They referenced the failure that was the multi-million “opinion poll” that was the gambling referendum, and said that it was the same thing about this referendum. When I explained the difference between this referendum and the 2013 one, the truth dawned upon them, but the polls had already closed.

Though I have supported a “yes” vote, I tried to be objective during this entire process.

Critics like Dame Joan Sawyer brought up very pertinent and well thought out counters to the bills, and it may have been her critiques that swayed a mass number of people to the opposing side. Also, the yes campaign was heavily funded by the government, while the No campaign was not funded at all, making the whole situation seemed politically biased in favour of the yes vote. The fact that the government campaign fully supported a yes vote created a “us or them” mentality in the minds of the people.

The campaign should have been strictly educational instead of pushing an agenda which appeared to be biased.

Sites like Facebook became a battleground for both sides, and it was always an ugly fight, most times with neither side relating or understanding the other.

Personally, I was not per-

turbed by any of the arguments against, save many of the critiques presented by Dame Joan Sawyer which I thought were quite strong.

However, the basis on which I voted was because of my strong belief in the principles of the proposed bills, not because I necessarily was pleased in the way they were being handled and relayed to the people.

When the PLP chairman released a press statement regarding the defeat of the bills, I was incredulous. The unofficial results had not been released to the public yet!

And why was the process taking so long?

Some attribute it to the fact that Nassau has more citizens than the Family Islands. Fair enough. But why is it that the United States primaries have calculated their results within hours, when they have millions of voters? We have a much smaller population.

Why don’t we transition to electronic voting?

Wouldn’t it be much more efficient and quicker than the antiquated pen and paper process?

Nevertheless, it is apparent that the vast majority of Bahamians have voted against the bills, largely I believe because of their mistrust of the government.

The same fervour and passion in which we addressed this referendum is the same way we need to address other issues facing our little nation as well.

This referendum was truly historic indeed.

“A CONCERNED YOUNG BAHAMIAN” Nassau, June 8, 2016.

NO means YES Shame and scandal

EDITOR, The Tribune.

CONGRATULATIONS to the PLP for fooling the electorate into voting for equality for the

Cry Wulff EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Graduates of the University of Wulff Road have come home to roost.

ATHENA DAMIANOS Nassau, June 8, 2018.

NINO ESTEBAN Nassau, June 8, 2016.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

CONGRATULATIONS, women of The Bahamas! You’ve thrown the baby (daughter) out with the bath water.

My heartfelt condolences go out to your daughters because now they know for certain that their mothers think even less of them than they do of their wuthless sons.

Shame! I say. Shame!

And lest you think I am placing this burden upon

you alone, I can assure you, you are mistaken.

The shame being heaped upon you and more can and ought to be laid squarely at the feet of the members of the Constitutional Commission, who drafted of the proposed amendments, and the Government, which approved them. Their collective failure to ensure that the proposed amendments were drafted in such a way as to avoid giving rise to our nation’s xenophobic and

homophobic proclivities is both shocking and scandalous in the extreme.

I invite each and every one of you to do the honourable thing and fall on your sword, figuratively speaking, at the earliest possible opportunity.

A BORN BAHAMIAN AND SUPPORTER OF EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN Nassau, June 8, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 5

Christie: I will not resign over failed referendums

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Tribune Staff Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday dismissed Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins’ call for him to resign over spending millions on two failed referendums, saying the MP has “no currency with me whatsoever.”

Mr Christie, speaking to reporters, skirted around the question of whether a resignation was a consideration as his administration had now two rejected referendums under its belt, totalling just under $3m, according to The Tribune’s calculations.

Mr Christie was asked

by The Tribune to respond to Dr Rollins, who said Tuesday night that the overwhelming rejection of the constitutional referendum, coupled with the failed gambling poll in 2013, was

reason for the prime minister to resign. He said he believed the vote was not about gender equality, but rather “it was a referendum on a very unpopular PLP government.”

The MP added that it further was confirmation this PLP government is “not trustworthy.”

“Dr Rollins has no currency with me whatsoever,” Mr Christie said in the foyer of the House of Assembly following the start of debate on the 2016/2017 budget.

“His views are not appreciated by me. It’s his expression. He will be on the ballot (and) he will be able to say to the people of the Bahamas that the prime minister did not step down, show him what you think of it. All of that will happen during the course of a general election. That is what I expect to happen here.”

He continued: “Remember this for me please, I had

the leaders of the churches in my office. I told them that I would not move this referendum unless they are supportive of it. I had the Leader of the Opposition (Dr Hubert Minnis) who in the last days were in with (Bamboo Town MP) Renward Wells in my office and I said to the leaders of the church, we are in this together so if there is an expression of no confidence it’s in the process.

“All of us who were there (I said) it is not an expression of no confidence the people were given an opportunity to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Governments do that without having an interest.

You stand or fall on ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

On Tuesday night, the Fort Charlotte MP said the government cannot escape blame for the outcome of this exercise.

“It is unheard of, and likely unprecedented, in

any democratic nation for the head of the executive branch to suffer two national referendum defeats in a single term in office and not voluntarily offer his or her resignation, or be made to resign by a vote of no confidence initiated by his or her peers,” he said.

“The message delivered by the Bahamian people is pellucidly clear: the prime minister has lost his mandate to lead this country.

Mr Christie ought to resign forthwith or be made to face a vote of no confidence initiated in the House of Assembly by both PLP and FNM members of Parliament.”

Dr Rollins also called for an accounting of all the money that was spent by the government to fund the YES Bahamas campaign.

“The public is entitled to receive, during the course of the impending budget debate, a complete account-

CALL FOR ELECTION MONITORS

from page one

Assembly’s Minority Room, said the process used in Tuesday’s referendum revealed a number of “flaws” which he said “resulted in many persons being denied their fundamental right to cast their ballot and could possibly cast a long dark shadow on our country’s ability to hold free and fair elections.”

One example of such, Dr Minnis claimed, was that despite agreements made with Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall to allow members of the major political parties to act as observers, many FNM observers were denied entry into the polling divisions “because they wore red shirts.”

Dr Minnis also claimed that “in many cases” polls were opened and balloting proceeded before FNM observers “were finally allowed in the room.”

Other flaws Dr Minnis cited included a lack of “clear instructions” from parliamentary officials regarding the “presence and dress code of observers,” hard copies of the register of voters not being available on time and in “most cases not available at all” at some polling places; and voters allegedly being instructed to “write ‘no’ or ‘yes’ in answer to the questions rather

FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis pictured on referendum day.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff than to mark an ‘x’.”

“These irregularities are of great concern to us especially in light of the upcoming general elections and we wish to put the government on notice that these irregularities must be fixed,” he said. “In light of this, the Free National Movement will demand that international organisations be invited to observe the Bahamas general elections in 2017.”

Dr Minnis also criticised

the Christie administration for using “their control over the government’s purse” to “push for an outcome of their choosing” instead of remaining impartial.

He said this was evident in the government’s decision to fund the YES Bahamas campaign “while at the same time denying funding to the ‘no’ campaign.”

“Free and fair elections are the foundation of any democracy, ours being no

PM DOES NOT KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY YES BAHAMAS CAMPAIGN RECEIVED

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday defended his administration’s decision not to give public funds to organised opponents of the constitutional referendum, adding that he could not yet say how much money the government gave to the YES Bahamas campaign until an assessment of the finances has been done.

As results trickled in showing a resounding victory for the vote ‘no’ side on Tuesday night, some opponents of the referendum bills who gathered at Grace Community Church said they were irate at the government’s decision to give public funds to only one side in the debate.

It was a decision that even Mr Christie’s handpicked Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney, QC, opposed.

One woman, identified as Linda, said: “I’m offended (Mr Christie) took my money and used it against me.”

Reacting yesterday, Mr Christie suggested that his government was on the right side of the issue while others were on the wrong side, even as Bahamians resoundingly rejected his position on the bills.

“I’m sorry,” he said, speaking to reporters in the

foyer of the House of Assembly yesterday. “But the fact of the matter is that as an elected representative and one who is the minister of finance, my government made a decision that what we were doing was elevating the country on behalf of men and women.”

Mr Christie suggested that his desire to have the country unified in support of the bills justified his decision to give funds only to the YES Bahamas campaign.

“When we started off,” he said, “we said we would not do it if we were disunited so we made a decision to be able to send people out to carry things out to ensure public education took place. I’m not going to argue today about things that were said. The ‘no’ people said things. I don’t want to dishonour the statement I made (earlier in Parliament) with contentious talk but I had certain views that affected me personally that they said. I don’t want to (talk about) that today. I can but I will not.

“I simply want to say to that lady that we acted responsibly. We acted in the best interest of the people of this country. We were always motivated to do so and we feel that anything we can do to advance public education of an issue of a public nature that will be

defining for the country was money well spent.”

To some like Mr McWeeney, it went against legal precedents not to give both sides of the referendum equal access to public funds.

Until yesterday, Christie administration officials had declined to say conclusively whether they would give money to any of the organised vote ‘no’ groups.

Their decision will likely continue to reverberate in the days to come, with Save Our Bahamas campaign member Pastor Lyall Bethel telling The Tribune Tuesday that they will demand that the government give a detailed account of how the money given to the ‘yes’ campaign was spent.

Asked how much money had been given to the YES Bahamas campaign, Mr Christie suggested that he didn’t know, adding that an assessment of the matter will likely be made after the budget communication debate ends.

“We just finished and we have to make that assessment moving forward,” he said. “Right now, for example, you see we are in the middle of a budget debate and time is of the essence.

We got a late start to the debate. Everyone must have a full opportunity to speak.

After this debate we’ll have further time to reflect.”

exception,” Dr Minnis said.

“It is demonstrably unfair for a government to use the peoples’ taxes to fund one side of the issue while denying funding to the opposite view. An FNM government will enact legislation to remove this discriminatory practice in future referenda.

“Unfortunately, the process used in yesterday’s referendum revealed a number of flaws which resulted in many persons being denied their fundamental right to cast their ballot and could possibly cast a long dark shadow on our country’s ability to hold free and fair elections.”

The four bills, which aimed to bring gender equality to the country’s Constitution, were overwhelmingly rejected by voters at the polls on Tuesday.

The full results were not released Tuesday night, however Mr Hall told reporters that it was evident all four questions on the ballot were “overwhelmingly” rejected.

ing for the expenditures related to the vote ‘yes’ campaign and an admission by the nation’s chief that the PLP - with its history of hypocritically opposing these same questions in the 2002 referendum and its recent failure to respect the results of the gaming referendum – was the wrong party to put these questions to the Bahamian people,” Dr Rollins said.

The government has said it spent $1.2m on the 2013 gambling referendum and had budgeted $1.57m for Tuesday’s vote, for a total of $2.8m according to The Tribune’s calculations.

In February, Dr Rollins predicted that the referendum would fail. At the time, he told The Tribune

he believed the vote would become “a victim of the extreme unpopularity” of the Christie administration.

Stating that he has always held the view that women’s rights are human rights and that women ought to be treated as equal to men under the law, Dr Rollins said earlier this year that the push for gender equality was being used as a political tool by the Progressive Liberal Party because of the looming general election.

He suggested at the time that the government delay the vote until after the 2017 election, with a promise from all political parties that the referendum would be held within 90 days of the next election.

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PAGE 6, Thursday, June 9, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

The chaos at the count

Tribune reporter Ricardo Wells was assigned to cover the announcement of referendum results on Tuesday night. This is his account of the chaos that unfolded.

PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlyn Hall yesterday refused to clarify the procedural failures of his office in its handling of Tuesday’s Constitutional Referendum vote.

Claiming exhaustion, Mr Hall indicated to The Tribune that neither he nor officials within the office of the Parliamentary Registration Department would conduct any further interviews with the press pertaining to the referendum.

On Tuesday, amid scenes of confusion and technical issues, the department became the public focal point of the vote as its lead-

ing official declared the “overwhelming rejection” of all four amendments on national television, despite not presenting totals from the vast majority of the 38 constituencies.

Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham criticised the government for “incompetence” in the conduct of the election, saying that the lack of declared results was unprecedented. In Bahamian elections it is customary that, by the end of the night, the overall results are complete in all constituences.

On Tuesday afternoon, members of the press had been asked to assemble at the department’s Farrington Road offices to cover the results of the referendum as they became known. Personnel from various media outlets gathered in a lunchroom converted into a “press centre” by department staff.

Closer to 5pm, technicians from two of the country’s foremost broadcasting stations were given the go-

ahead to set up their live feeds from the office, with ZNS being given control of the entire room reserved for the press while Our News were handed a similar, but larger space across the hall.

Other media outlets were assigned to a third office further down the hall and told that “runners” were in place to gather results and disseminate them.

Nearing 7pm, Mr Hall offered his first interview to acknowledge the closure of polls and the tallying of initial ballots. He spoke first to ZNS, followed by Our News and then to The Tribune.

He maintained throughout all three interviews that voter turnout at some stations was considered low and that no incidents of note had been reported.

After Mr Hall returned to his office, between 7.15 and 7.30 news began to circulate that results from various Family Island polling stations were being reported

by ZNS. At this point, officials at the Parliamentary

Registration Department were unable to confirm or deny if the numbers were true, as officials on those islands addressed members of the press stationed on the islands.

Around 7.45pm, there was chaos as reports patched into the department were handed over to various media outlets prior to being vetted by Mr Hall.

This decision breached the department’s protocol and led to the office rejecting media reports and implementing a moratorium on results being given to the press. Despite this decision, both broadcasting outlets were allowed to conclude the constituency bulletins that were in progress and mandated to return the tally sheets to the office of Mr Hall once concluded.

Around 8.45pm, officials were still waiting for tally sheets. At 9pm, the office announced that no results would be presented to the press until all polling stations from a constituency

were accounted for.

More than a half hour later, results for the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Mangrove Cay and South Andros and the North Andros and Berry Island constituencies, were made available. That was followed by Bamboo Town at 10.15pm, the first result from New Providence.

Some officials from the island’s constituencies were surprised to find when they arrived that results they had returned much earlier in the evening had not been declared.

Despite the limited results, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts released a statement appearing to concede the Constitutional Referendum. “The will of the Bahamian people was expressed unfettered in the historic June 7 gender equality referendum as Bahamians went to the polls and respectfully and peacefully exercised their voting franchise,” Mr Roberts said. “I thank them for their solemn

and reverential respect for the democratic process.”

Carmichael and Elizabeth - without four polling divisions - followed shortly after.

It was around this time the department began to indicate there had been power issues at some polling stations and communication issues at others.

According to Mr Hall, a power outage meant that ballots could not be read and limited reports from the Montagu constituency.

Additionally, issues with the department’s fax machines limited the reporting of results in “a number of other” constituencies.

Some officials at the facility indicated problems with the three copiers - which reportedly cost $75,000 - in the building, with the internet and the failure of telephone communications.

At 11.45pm, Mr Hall gave his final interview to members of the press.

DNA leader Branville McCartney speaking outside the House of Assembly yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff terday. “You cannot trust it to the Bahamian people.” confirming numbers from a He was referring to the majority of voting stations. them.” surrounding “That tells me that someHe added: “No way confusion should someone who is not how PLP Chairman Brad- thing is wrong there. That a part of government come ley Roberts could concede tells me that the reason we and concede, that tells me a defeat of the four bills have not gotten these rethat they have the informa- ahead of the Parliamentary sults is because something tion and they had not given Registration Department is fishy,” he said.

Mr McCartney said that it was his personal belief that the PLP “wanted to do foolishness with these results”.

He added: “Bradley Roberts, the PLP, the chairman of that party knew the results. He would have not conceded if he didn’t.”

“How in the world Bradley Roberts who is not a part of the government, he is a chairperson, a chairman

of a political party, how is it he knows what the results are and is in a position to now concede on behalf of the government?”

“That tells me that he knows the results. But what about other people who ought to know the results, like the Bahamian people?

What about the Official Opposition? Who also was supportive, officially, of the ‘yes’ vote. Did they know the results as well?”

Tuesday night was full of hiccups for the Parliamentary Registration Department, which only released a handful of constituency results instead of a full tabulation of unofficial results on polling night, as is standard.

Officials blamed electrical outages and other technical setbacks for their inefficiencies.

Mr McCartney said it is a “shame” that the system is so “antiquated.”

As the outcome of Tuesday’s referendum spread throughout New Providence yesterday, calls placed to members of the Parliamentary Registration Department’s senior team were met with responses like: “We are attempting to recount, results will come once that process is done.”

Pointing out the failures

of the overall process, Mr McCartney called for the resignations of Prime Minister Perry Christie, National Security Minister Bernard Nottage and Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall.

“Now in light of this government supporting this referendum, in light of the fact that this is a major issue in this country, in light of the fact that this is the second opinion poll/referendum that this government has lost. In any civilised country, the prime minister would step down.”

“This PLP government, the prime minister ought to resign. That is the convention of Westminster system, they ought to resign and resign forthwith. And along with him, Bernard Nottage must go too.”

Mr McCartney voted against all four questions on the ballot. He said he believes a referendum is not needed for the government to make the changes in the first three Constitutional Amendment Bills. He also opposed the fourth question over concerns that it could lead to same-sex marriage.

All four questions were overwhelmingly rejected by voters.

results as they came in, instead opting to wait for all the votes from an entire constituency before issuing them.

Yesterday Dr Nottage said the integrity of the process should not be called into question.

However, he said he disagreed with Mr Hall’s decision to withhold results until results from all divisions in particular constituencies were received.

“What I do know is this,” he said, “the parliamentary commissioner informed me that what he had decided to do is wait until all the results came in for a constituency and then release those results. Now, that was not a process with which I agreed and I told him so. He thought it was very efficient to do it that way.”

Noting the rarity of referendums, Dr Nottage did not suggest that Mr Hall or any other official in his department should suffer some consequence for the way the matters were handled.

“A referendum is different from (an election where you have) two candidates

so you can just count the votes for one or another candidate,” he said. “In this case there were four questions that you have to count ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for them so that takes you four times as long.”

As for the results of the referendum, Dr Nottage said he was not disappointed.

“I believe we should have equality of persons in the country,” he said. “To that extent I notice that the people for whom this was intended did not support that view. I accept it. I would have no disappointment one way or the other. I just know what I did.”

Asked what steps will be taken to ensure announcements of results during the next general election don’t mirror what took place this time, Dr Nottage said: “All we have to do is follow the rules as they exist. That’s all we have to do.”

On Tuesday night amid chaotic scenes, the department was blaming electrical failures, technical issues and procedural breaches for its inability to report totals for polling stations throughout the country.

“Basically, our fax (machines) are down because the (media) had to do some gymnastics with cabling, so whatever mechanism that I think you all did, (polling stations) had a difficulty communicating by fax to us. So most of the results were telephoned, by cell, etc,” Mr Hall said on Tuesday.

According to Mr Hall, a power outage limited reports from the Montagu constituency.

Additionally, issues with the department’s fax machines limited the reporting of results in “a number of other” constituencies.

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DELAY IN ISSUING RESULTS ‘DAMAGING TO DEMOCRACY’

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE delays in releasing polling results in Tuesday’s constitutional referendum was damaging to democracy, Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday, as he questioned if the government was trying to suppress the numbers.

The former Bamboo Town MP insisted that the Christie administration’s history of electoral mishaps once again reared its head.

“There is no if’s, and’s or but’s about it; I firmly believe that if this was pretty close, there may have been a different result because of what this PLP government is known for,” asserted Mr McCartney during a press conference outside of the House of Assembly yes-

NOTTAGE ‘DOESN’T KNOW IF ANYTHING WENT WRONG’

from page one He said the number of questions on the ballot, coupled with issues like scattered power outages, contributed to the delay in the release of results.

“What I know is this,” he said, “the four questions were on each ballot and each ballot therefore had to be examined. The examination takes a lot longer because you had to count ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for each of the questions. And so this is one of the things that served the process bad. Secondly, I understand that there were some power outages that affected the process of getting the results from some areas.

That’s it. I don’t think there was any particular motive.”

A day after the referendum, the results from some polling stations still had not been released. And on Tuesday night, the Parliamentary Registration Department released results for only six of 38 constituencies. Additionally, Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall decided not to release polling division

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 7

‘Perfect storm’ for No vote, says activist DONNA Nicolls speaking at a press conference earlier this month ahead of the gender equality referendum.

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net THE gender equality referendum became “the perfect storm” for a no vote, according to women’s rights activist Donna Nicolls, who yesterday pledged to continue the fight for equal rights.

Co-founder and director of Bahamas Women’s Watch, Mrs Nicolls pointed to a flawed process, compromised spokespersons, and a disenchanted electorate as major contributors to the disappointing but unsurprising outcome.

“I thought that it was going to be a total rejection but I thought maybe questions one to three would be a little closer. In my gut it told me, I’m not shocked at all.

“The whole process was flawed from the start. There was no consultation with those who brought gender equality to the table long ago and hardly any consultation with the people in the trenches with the rights movement at all before it

(the Constitutional Amendment Bills) was tabled.

“Then, some of the people who are the prominent voices were compromised because they were the primary ‘no’ people from back then,” she said, referring to the failed constitutional referendum in 2002.

Mrs Nicolls said some persons viewed the proponents of the “yes” vote as “elites,” which impacted receptiveness to their message.

The four bills projected to bring gender equality to the country’s Constitution were “overwhelmingly” rejected by voters at the polls on Tuesday.

Mrs Nicolls said: “I don’t think that the rank and file of the community believe that men and women should be equal, that was evident.

However it would not be politically correct to say that.

“People were angry about the gambling referendum and so if they came out with that, it would seem as though they were petty and people are generally disgusted with the govern-

ment. Then it’s easy to influence people when you prey on their emotions, they chose a vulnerable group that was convenient and railroaded the whole thing.

“It was like a perfect storm and everyone says ‘no’.”

Mrs Nicolls, also deputy director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre, said the reforms should “most definitely” be presented again; however, she emphasized that the driving force should come from civil society. She insisted that the failed referendum was not a setback.

“Those of us who believe in gender equality and are the voice for those who have been hurt or victims of any of these inequalities will continue. We speak for them but it will certainly not stop anything that we are doing. We will continue to fight for human rights, women’s rights (and) a country free of violence.

“It’s just another day.

I don’t feel like it’s a step back, it may be a pause, but we will keep moving forward,” she added.

PAGE 8, Thursday, June 9, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Out for the count why Christie should resign

‘

A Young Man’s View

By ADRIAN GIBSON

He who comes into equity must come with clean hands.

He who seeks equity must do equity.

Equitable Maxims

T

HE outcome of the higgledypiggledy, directionless Constitutional Referendum on Tuesday demonstrably shows that the public believes that the governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has unclean, “dutty” hands and, given its shunning and circumvention of the electorate’s repudiation of the gambling referendum, there was much distrust, suspicion and disinformation.

Conspiracy theories abound and there were many who believe that this untrustworthy government had carefully and craftily hidden a number of agendas – in masterful command of the English language and syntax – in four questions.

It appears that some voters believed that not only did the questions say what they said, but that they also allegedly said what they didn’t say they said.

Tuesday’s results were a resounding rebuke of the governing party. If one sniffs the air, the scent of defeat still assaults the nostrils. This is yet another teachable moment, except that the pupils have demonstrated an inability to be taught!

The entire experience was contrived and contorted, not only for the people that voted yes, but also for those that voted no, for onlookers and all interested parties.

Although I had misgivings about Bills two and four, I voted yes across the board because I believe in equality. I gave my reasons in my column on Monday.

That said, even as I voted in

‘

favour of the Bills, I knew that they would be overwhelmingly rejected!

Regardless of how one looks at it, this was a vote against the government. For the PLP, this was a political massacre. The chickens have come home to roost and the voting public are giving the governing party its just desserts. There are those in the public who have told me that they feel disrespected by the government and, many of those who brought the sweet talks and dreams sold during the 2012 general election, now view it all as a grand scam, a nightmare of epic proportions. There has been a lack of transparency and accountability.

The impending divorce between the PLP and the Bahamian electorate has been foreshadowed. Bahamians have sent an unmistakable message and rendered a vote of no confidence. I can hardly believe that this vote was merely an out-and-out dismissal of the Bills. There were other factors at play.

It is unfortunate that the Bills failed. However, I truly understand the issues people had with these Bills.

What’s more, some Bahamians were patronised and treated with disdain, cursed at and berated for believing what they did, and much of this was done by the people responsible for the educational campaign. People usually “block you out” when they feel attacked or threatened or disrespected, they no longer hear you.

Condescension is simply unwelcome … anywhere.

Political interference was obvious. Who gave the governing party permission to donate taxpayers’ monies only to the Yes campaign but nothing to the No campaign? Are they suggesting that people who supported the No campaign don’t pay

In addition to distrust for the government, any number of other factors were at play, ranging from a parochial outlook, political chicanery, misinformation, fundamentalist Biblical application and interpretation, xenophobia, homophobia, fear, an allergic disposition to change, misogyny, revenge for 2002 and the sheer determination of the No campaign to overcome the odds that were clearly stacked against them by the government. The results are a picture of an absolute rout.’

PRIME Minister Perry Christie speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday during the budget debate after the referendum defeat.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff taxes? That unfairness was also observed by the electorate and soundly rejected.

The suspicion around referendum processes was first created by Perry Christie, the PLP and pastors in 2002.

Life has come full circle as the same suspicions the Prime Minister once created have now come back to hamper a referendum seeking to fulfil nearly the exact purpose of the referendum that he voted for and then against in 2002. This is the most unfortunate kind of karma, one that affects so many thousands of Bahamians who perhaps voted against themselves out of distrust for the Christie administration.

As a nation, we must take a cue from the Americans and introduce and implement constitutional studies in the primary and high school social studies/civics curriculum and also offer constitutional studies as mandatory course at the College/University of the Bahamas. This is of utmost importance. Bahamians do not know or understand their fundamental rights; many Bahamians don’t understand their Constitution.

At this point, that has been reserved for lawyers and judges only.

Disappointingly, it feels like the electorate turned

down greater freedoms and fundamental rights. The public did not consent for the government to erase inequalities in the Constitution.

In addition to distrust for the government, any number of other factors were at play, ranging from a parochial outlook, political chicanery, misinformation, fundamentalist Biblical application and interpretation, xenophobia, homophobia, fear, an allergic disposition to change, misogyny, revenge for 2002 and the sheer determination of the No campaign to overcome the odds that were clearly stacked against them by the government. The results are a picture of an absolute rout. There was resentment from 2002 and clearly some people decided to sacrifice, rightly or wrongly, a noble right to equality in pursuit of the same.

Quite honestly, the minute the LGBT community begun to take leading positions on the Bills and the transgender personalities took to the television, the airwaves and the media, the Bahamian electorate became overcome by their fears. Progressivism became consumed by fear and mistrust. If anyone visited a barbershop or eatery or popular hangout, one could

easily gauge the political temperature and determine that the Bills would fail. Bahamians decided to “play it safe” and vote no four times.

The government failed to heed the Constitutional Commission’s recommendation to include a restriction to guard against samesex marriage, one that reads “paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to any law so far as that law makes provisions - (f) for prohibiting same-sex marriage or rendering the same void or unlawful.” If the government had heeded this request, Bill four might have passed and they may have encountered little, if any, political and religious pushback.

What a gross miscalculation!

N

ow that the fat lady has sung, I would like a breakdown of the funds spent on this referendum. I want it immediately and I don’t want anyone to think I will forget that in the coming days and weeks. Whilst at it, I want an audited breakdown of the monies spent on the carnival.

I am afraid that given the rejection of the referendum, there are some in government who may engage in a run on the Treasury, trying to grab their last handful of loot and contracts before being kicked into the political abyss. I hope that Auditor General Terrance Bastian keeps his eyes on everyone … sleep with one

eye open, sir!

I took a short cut through Bain Town a few days ago.

I noticed groupings in the garb of the Yes campaign walking about and campaigning. As I was in a bit of traffic, I rolled my window down to listen to what was being said as I doubt those young men and women could convince my young son to put his shoes in the closet. As I listened, I was unimpressed and begun to wonder if they could even spell yes. They clearly were out of their depth with respect to explaining these constitutional changes and assuaging fears. It appears that they were likely hired because their MP, Dr Bernard Nottage, is the minister in charge of referendums and likely threw them a pre-election bone.

The referendum should never have been steered by the government. The government should have taken a neutral role, facilitated an educational process and organised the vote. Nothing more! Instead, the government became puppeteers of the Yes campaign and sought to starve the No campaign of funds.

There is no denying the impact of Rodney Moncur upon the campaign. Mr Moncur launched a vote no campaign branded as ‘Save Da Woman Dem’ and was able to raise funds, open an office and galvanise support via his highly-rated evening talk show and rallies. Mr Moncur became a thorn in the government’s side and

‘

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 9

When history weighs Perry Christie in the balance as it relates to his referendum experiences, his record will be 0 for 3 (2002, 2013, 2016). History will say that Perry Christie singlehandedly set back constitutional reform in The Bahamas more than any other person. The word referendum has almost become a sinful word in The Bahamas. And, for that, he should be ashamed.’

he is a key figure that successfully campaigned for the defeat of the Bills, demonstrating his influence in the process.

How did Bradley Roberts know the results of the referendum before the Bahamian public? How is it that the PLP Chairman was conceding defeat?

Why didn’t the minister responsible for the referendum, Dr Nottage, or Prime Minister Christie concede?

How could a chairman of a political party, and one who holds no national office, be allowed to concede as if this was a run-off between the PLP and the Free National Movement (FNM)?

Who advised the chairman to throw in the towel?

How do you concede a referendum anyhow?

There is something fundamentally wrong and disrespectful about this!

T

he fact that the referendum was not retroactive also affected the outcome, with many persons voting thinking and knowing that a positive outcome would not apply to their family member if such a person was over a certain age. Clearly, these guys did not think this through.

The referendum was a disorganised, unmitigated disaster. The Parliamentary Registration Department’s incompetence and archaic methods were on full display on Tuesday night with their slow, drip-drip of results. I guess they will blame BEC; however, given the fact that it is daylight saving time and the polls close at 6pm, agents at the polls had ample time to begin the count. Whenever the Parliamentary Registration Department behaves like this, it creates suspicion and doubts and raises concerns that there are attempts to

“tief” the election.

I read many comments where people expressed fears that, during the outage, ballots would be slipped into the ballot box under the cloak of darkness. FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis was right to call for international observers at the next general election.

What’s more, our control needs to move towards electronic voting. Our outdated, third world system must be left in the 20th century.

I wish to lodge publicly a complaint against ZNS. Why wasn’t Darold Miller pleaded with and begged not to go on vacation during the referendum? We missed him. Please make sure Mr Miller delivers the general election results. Darold, I speak for so many when I say that you were sorely missed on Tuesday.

Yet again, we have missed an opportunity to improve our democracy.

Everything wrong with the referendum ought to be laid at Perry Christie’s feet. There was no statesmanship. So, when history weighs Mr Christie in the balance as it relates to his referendum experiences, his record will be 0 for 3 (2002, 2013, 2016). History will say that Perry Christie singlehandedly set back constitutional reform in the Bahamas more than any other person. The word referendum has almost become a sinful word in the Bahamas. And, for that, he should be ashamed.

Unfortunately, we have a government that is short on accomplishment. They find themselves with all of their signature programmes as failures. They have demonstrated that they think the electorate is unworthy of anything but contempt. ajbahama@hotmail.com

T

Yes or no? Stay or go?

Mitchell changes his tune

HE CHRISTIE Administration has lost its mandate to govern.

It has lost two consecutive referendums in one term.

It appears that history is likely to repeat itself and much like the Free National Movement (FNM) in 2002, whichever side appeared to lose the referendum would lose the government. Mr Christie must take the fall on this; this is an indictment upon him and, in order to perhaps save his party before the next election, Mr Christie should resign. The ultimate responsibility is on Mr Christie and his government.

The Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) demise can be tied to their betrayal of the Bahamian electorate who voted no to the gambling referendum in 2013 and their ineffectual, scandal-ridden governance over the last few years. What’s more, Bahamians were offended by their blatant arrogance in not apologising for their vote in 2002. Only Alfred Sears - the frontrunner to succeed Mr Christie was decent and honourable enough to apologise.

On March 3, 2002, Fred Mitchell - then a senator for the PLP - called for the resignation of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham following the defeat of the referendum organised by the FNM and held on February 27, 2002.

Mr Mitchell then stated: “The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his party the Free National Movement went down to resounding defeat on Wednesday, 27 February, 2002. Their spin doctors and apologists are trying to make-up all sorts of stories about the whys and the wherefores.

The simple fact is they were beaten and beaten convincingly. This Senator believes that his position from the start that he would vote no has been fully vindicated.

FRED Mitchell speaking earlier this month.

The lesson for the PLP is that the role of a political party is to shape public opinion, not the other way around. We must be informed by public opinion but the duty to lead is the role of a political party … We therefore must congratulate the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie and his team for the skilful manner in which this whole thing was handled.”

“On the other hand we have nothing but scorn for this jackass that we call our Prime Minister. He had to concede defeat just after 9.30pm on the night of the referendum. But the next day, he was back true to form. He refused to resign making some spurious distinction by saying that this was a vote not against the FNM and himself but against the issues raised in the referendum. That is utter foolishness and is at variance with every known convention of the Constitution,” he said.

Mitchell went on: “At this press conference, he showed no contrition, no repentance and no remorse.

He just continued along like nothing happened.

In fact he said that he is ashamed of the Bahamian people for having voted no. Then he proceeded to jump on a plane to a Heads of Government meeting in Australia on the strength of the same Bahamian people’s tax monies. We should

be out in the streets, forcing him and his Government to go.”

On March 10, 2002, Mr Mitchell further wrote: “A fellow can really play stupid when he wants to. That’s the continuous story of Hubert Ingraham. He speaks out of one side of his mouth about integrity and commitment to the rules, but he breaks each and every rule whenever it suits his purpose. And that is the story with why he won’t resign.

He knows that the conventions of the Constitution demand that when he and his government have lost an important vote like the five questions on the referendum he has in fact had a vote of no confidence made in his Government. There is no choice but to resign.”

“Pinch me! Pinch me!

We must be dreaming.

This can’t be the same man who wanted the last Prime Minister to resign when the commission inquiry condemned the last Government. He knows what the convention is. It has nothing to do with how many people called for your resignation. He must go because the rule says he must go.

But now he has bastardised the system again. This is not surprising. But hopefully, he will be gone in short order by means of the general election which he should call and stop dragging this country through this long process while our economy is on hold. The fact is that the delay in calling the election has caused untold damage to the economy. No one will deal with this Government until the election has been decided,” he said.

I wonder if Mr Mitchell would still make this argument given the Christie administration’s loss of two referendums in one term.

Surely, if he could call for the former PM to resign for one failed referendum, then Mr Christie must surely be gone for two!

What is interesting is that at a rally on Windsor Park on February 25, 2002, Mr Mitchell told attendees that they must “work toward the defeating of the Free National Movement’s attempt to diss our national Constitution” and begged them to vote no to “send a message straight to the Wallace Whitfield Centre. Your time is up. It is time for you to go. So long! Farewell!

Adieu! Bon Voyage! Carry your …”

Interestingly, this is the same Fred Mitchell who campaigned so hard in favour of the Yes vote this time around. I guess the proposed amendments were no longer an “attempt to diss our national Constitution” because the PLP was organising the vote.

Unlike Mr Ingraham, who accepted “full and complete responsibility for the result” of the 2002 referendum, I have yet to hear Mr Christie say anything remotely close to that.

One would not think, in the wake of Tuesday’s referendum results, that this was the same Perry Christie who, in a jubilant address at the PLP’s headquarters on the night of the 2002 vote, said: “The results of today’s referendum are enormously gratifying. Democracy has triumphed. The tyranny of arrogant falsehood today lies slain on the field of battle. Truth has emerged victorious. It is a great and joyous day for the Bahamas.

To God be the glory. This is not, however, an occasion for gloating by those who campaigned so vigorously for the result that has been achieved because the real winners tonight are the Bahamian people.”

And yet he gloated.

Will Mr Christie now resign? Will Mr Mitchell call for his resignation? Or, will we see more of the usual arrogance on display? ajbahama@hotmail.com

PAGE 10, Thursday, June 9, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

‘GOD SPOKE THROUGH VOTES OF THE PEOPLE’

VOTERS on referendum day in West Grand Bahama.

LCF-Career Opportunity 2016-FINALWEB2.pdf

1

5/31/16

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

1:20 PM

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PASTORS Eddie Victor and Greg Bullard of the vote “no” group of religious leaders in Grand Bahama said that God spoke through the votes of the

people who overwhelmingly rejected Tuesday’s referendum on gender equality.

The men said their stance was not political.

“Our role was an activist and watchman… to proclaim this danger...that would come to our country and threaten our tradition, culture and sovereignty,” they said.

Despite the messages they received on social media because of their support for the ‘no’ campaign, the pastors said they forgive those people.

They said the time now is to move forward and address critical issues concerning citizenship.

Pastor Bullard said: “We are not haters, we love people. We are not for a political party and we are not against a political party in our vote no yesterday.

There were two allegiances we had yesterday: one was to God and the other was to our country; we want to preserve this country for future generations of Bahamians.”

Pastor Victor stated that the Bahamian people have truly been “awakened” to the fact there are outside forces that are putting pressure on The Bahamas and the Caribbean region to merge into an international agenda.

He noted that the real issue was with bill four.

“From everything we searched and examined we were overwhelmingly convinced that the insertion of the word ‘sex’ would have opened the door for samesex marriage that would threaten our culture and traditions.”

Pastor Victor said that there are some critical issues as it relates to citizenship which can be dealt with in Parliament.

“Any government truly seeking to help the people I believe they will do it. We need to help this displaced population of individuals

who are stateless and experience barriers and challenges because they cannot be normalised, and correct it.”

Although he believes that bill one in its intent was good, Pastor Victor explained that the problem was that it was not retroactive.

“The very problem that brought about the bill you are not dealing with it. And so you need to be able to say how do we deal with all these thousands of people who have been affected from 1973 to now, we need to create a situation where retroactively we can bring those into citizenship in the country,” he said.

He also did not agree with bill two, which would have given the foreign spouse of a Bahamian woman the same right to apply for citizenship that the foreign wife of a Bahamian man currently enjoys.

“I voted ‘no’ because I believe it was a threat to our tradition, culture, and changes would have open the door to our citizenship being given away. I believe citizenship should be earned and people should be engrafted into our culture,” he said.

Pastor Bullard believes that the Bahamian people voted based on conviction to Christian principles.

“With bill four we feel it would open the door for same-sex marriage and that was one of the strong reasons why people overwhelmingly throughout the Bahamas voted ‘no’.”

He stressed that the situation regarding the scores of persons who are stateless needs to be fixed.

“The church was a lion that roared yesterday, and that roar will not cease because of the ‘no’ vote on June 7, we will continue to advocate on behalf of those people who are still stateless because they need to have their situation resolved,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 11

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PAGE 12, Thursday, June 9, 2016 NEW PROVIDENCE RESULTS

Bill One

Bill Two

Bill Three

Yes 28.9%

Yes 38.3% No 61.64%

No 71.1%

Nassau Village

Bill Four

Bill

Yes 21.1%

Yes 33.7% No 66.2%

No 78.9%

RESULTS listed are as provided by the Parliamentary Registration Department to The Tribune. The above statistics are based on the figures received so far. However, several constituencies have yet to have results provided - Fort Charlotte, Fox Hill, Marathon and Sea Breeze - while a number of those listed below have incomplete listings. The votes recorded so far total appoximately 71,931 - about 39.96% of the total number of registered voters, but that number will rise as further results are received.

Bain & Grants Town Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1

Yes No 48 73 69 37 38 43 29 55 52 58 38 38 18 52

Total

100 128 129 108 95 98 116 111 97 163 101 80 67 138

2

Yes 34 51 59 25 29 31 25 45 42 42 28 30 15 41

No 114 151 138 120 101 110 121 120 108 176 112 84 69 149

648 1531 497 1673

Yes

3

42 67 65 28 38 33 28 51 47 7 34 36 19 55

No 105 135 135 116 91 109 118 115 103 161 106 78 68 135

550 1575

Garden Hills 4

Yes

25 39 44 14 24 22 15 40 28 36 21 25 5 34

No 124 164 155 130 104 119 128 125 120 181 120 89 82 154

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 Yes No 49 61 65 69 39 59 44 50 38 57 57 19 30 65

Total

176 143 158 129 109 114 110 102 133 151 76 253 100 98

2

Yes 37 36 34 40 28 41 28 32 29 39 44 77 29 47

No 185 169 188 148 121 132 126 120 143 170 92 293 102 117

702 1852 541 2106

Yes

3

44 54 54 51 39 55 34 47 39 43 54 108 32 51

No 179 151 169 131 110 124 119 106 132 166 82 261 98 112

705 1940

4

Yes

20 23 21 33 15 23 19 26 19 17 32 36 21 36

No 204 181 200 155 134 150 134 153 192 192 103 313 107 121

341 2339

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1

Yes No 78 42 116 41 82 80 72 63 88 66 65 33 67 54

Total

174 123 250 93 149 164 159 165 137 142 148 114 129 92

Yes

2

51 26 85 30 61 61 47 42 56 45 41 23 51 31

No 201 139 284 104 170 183 185 188 171 162 170 124 145 114

947 2039 650 2340

Yes

3

57 37 103 35 74 69 61 54 71 54 58 28 58 41

No 181 128 265 100 157 174 171 175 155 152 155 143 139 103

800 2198

Yes

4

23 20 54 21 45 42 33 33 38 35 20 17 33 20

218 145 314 111 186 205 199 196 186 171 192 130 163 125

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 Yes No 63 48 35 53 43 60 47 59 43 85 49 48 37 87

Total

107 111 103 82 85 125 94 113 124 100 123 56 63 151

Yes 55 62 30 34 71 44 33 49 29 63 29 35 26 62

No 114 120 107 100 107 143 109 113 137 118 143 69 75 174

757 1437 622 1629

Yes

3

60 68 36 53 79 52 43 60 37 78 47 43 39 76

No 104 113 101 84 97 132 98 112 128 105 125 52 61 158

771 1470

Yes

4

50 27 18 30 52 26 20 41 19 46 19 30 19 48

No 121 136 118 108 125 161 121 128 146 136 153 75 81 190

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1 Yes No 55 59 80 82 90 78 57 82 90 80 96

135 105 96 114 149 144 108 143 128 27 134

Yes

2

37 46 60 52 59 58 40 57 70 72 73

No 152 118 113 144 176 166 124 171 151 35 158

130 165 85 211 979 1448 709 1719

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

1

Yes No 68 64 61 48 58 40 53 45 55 42 38 57 35 39

147 111 116 89 96 92 103 92 132 95 95 120 130 76

Yes 47 46 44 37 38 33 40 38 40 36 30 40 30 31

2

No 166 127 132 100 118 98 114 94 143 101 101 137 136 85

703 1494 530 1652

Yes

3

38 56 70 58 78 72 50 66 81 75 79

No 152 108 104 128 161 151 114 161 138 33 151

109 190 832 1591

Yes

3

66 54 52 41 48 37 46 44 48 38 34 51 39 35

No 148 119 124 95 108 93 108 86 137 99 97 127 124 81

633 1546

Yes

4

25 31 45 38 39 40 28 45 56 63 40

No 164 133 128 157 196 184 135 179 166 42 191

78 218 528 1893

Yes

109 50 136 71 122 54 72 8 115 57 259 70 150 67 106 42 86 39 115 23 153 49 107 50 108 48 1638 628

No

129 170 156 81 133 306 175 123 111 130 178 136 138 1966

Yes

3

60 95 63 9 68 103 81 53 47 30 67 66 65 807

No 143 143 146 80 122 275 160 112 105 121 157 120 199 1883

4

Yes

34 50 39 3 46 141 51 26 28 9 31 35 40 533

1

Yes No 141 196 150 137 21 135 119 80 129 99 101 152 104 80

2

Yes 55 80 40 56 39 49 47 33 50 34 56 52 48 35

No 165 239 174 146 134 159 147 93 150 106 118 180 125 105

961 1644 674 2041

Yes

3

145 190 170 85 149 332 193 143 122 144 198 152 148 2171

63 102 53 165 49 56 62 42 63 38 67 62 62 47

No 156 217 161 138 123 137 127 86 137 99 105 171 109 92

931 1858

4

Yes

136 51 25 42 20 33 29 23 39 23 38 34 38 22

1 Yes No 75 102 93 133 132 116 70 64 76 102 54 89 61 1167

2

Yes

62 65 150 70 163 58 263 83 163 94 198 67 97 46 125 42 155 59 124 75 122 32 128 62 112 40 1862 793

No

71 180 198 313 201 246 122 147 175 150 145 155 133 2236

Yes

3

67 86 78 112 106 89 60 58 67 89 40 78 49 979

No

184 267 189 161 149 162 163 105 160 113 136 197 132 117

70 164 175 281 189 222 108 131 164 138 135 139 122 2038

4

46 44 40 48 67 47 28 28 38 58 21 50 28 543

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

164 171 126 210 146 82 120 109 97 98 71 124 142 96 124 114 115 77 119 117 175 73 149 98 150 102 117 130 212 138 168 183 151 99 109 140 135 74 117 93 128 139 100 169 73 150 51 171 1688 1299 1371 1658

Yes

3

149 134 82 128 137 155 138 181 125 118

No 182 93 114 110 99 93 113 170 124 92

Yes

4

99 97 48 105 99 120 102 132 98 91

No 239 131 146 132 137 128 150 220 153 118

116 151 78 119 63 159 35 189 1526 1500 1104 1862

Montagu

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

1

Yes No

Yes

111 122 55 106 52 85 113 48 24 67 53 146 173 160

84 106 44 93 41 73 92 35 22 51 38 127 160 142

114 103 55 62 112 43 107 91 69 97 119 79 35 44

2

No 138 119 66 73 126 55 127 106 76 113 136 100 46 61

1315 1130 1108 1342

Yes

3

97 112 56 85 51 74 99 48 24 63 46 134 154 140

No 121 112 54 80 119 53 122 92 74 103 128 92 50 64

Yes

4

64 87 34 69 26 57 71 24 7 27 28 102 128 125

Yes

35 28 20 27 29 26 27 27 37 33 24 26 18 22

No 177 145 156 112 126 102 128 105 149 103 107 150 146 93

379 1799

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

1

Yes No 79 109 122 126 73 41 85 90 69 48 96 78 103 51

67 119 111 146 72 86 132 156 123 133 84 165 217 60

Yes 62 75 93 96 54 31 67 62 42 32 70 48 59 43

2

No 83 153 141 178 90 97 150 186 147 143 112 196 261 70

1170 1671 834 2007

1027 1833

52 56 71 72 35 14 46 50 30 23 51 42 45 29

132 82 166 113 24 126 107 34 127 124 30 145 123 22 139 107 136 116 111 25 128 136 142 163 113 130 152 127 93 143 114 42 129 125 58 145 107 34 127 87 37 95

936 1626 889 1901

Yes

3

104 31 44 45 32 145 34 60 141 93 52 59 44 43

No 145 117 118 131 127 117 119 145 139 140 118 136 118 88

927 1758

4

Yes

62 18 25 20 10 21 16 31 23 54 27 37 25 21

No 187 131 137 154 150 131 138 147 157 175 145 158 137 111

390 2058

1 Yes No 66 53 38 45 69 51 54 97 48 58 51 50 36 716

2

Yes

139 39 121 36 152 23 110 32 132 49 143 35 127 42 234 63 157 40 132 37 127 29 96 33 79 25 1749 483

No

167 138 167 123 151 163 139 264 145 153 151 113 90 1964

Yes

3

53 46 29 42 60 43 50 88 41 55 44 38 30 619

No 152 127 162 114 140 156 50 240 148 136 136 108 86 1755

4

Yes

23 29 14 20 42 20 26 50 21 31 109 21 19

No 182 146 176 133 159 178 155 280 163 160 159 125 97

425 2113

1 Yes No 171 128 93 91 36 59 98 158 123 113 135 1205

Yes

2

No

67 153 119 69 113 99 137 61 106 78 108 121 1078

99 78 62 26 38 86 126 102 88 186 1044

Yes

3

No

82

157

81

148 85 143 109 158 73 139 99 133 146 1315

105 79 77 32 58 89 144 108 93 127 1069

146 84 125 103 138 70 121 90 129 127 1214

Yes

4

No

124 113 75 55 39 17 22 67 95 86 65 83 728

171 107 166 118 174 92 167 115 155 173 1551

South Beach Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

1 Yes No 70 62 77 62 70 77 42 51 81 88 75 74 829

Yes

160 54 139 40 108 63 121 39 91 49 139 51 111 25 134 40 191 62 177 58 172 48 186 50 1729 579

2

No

176 163 122 145 110 165 131 148 212 204 198 209 1983

Yes

3

58 50 67 54 60 69 42 44 79 73 69 59 724

No 172 154 118 131 100 144 116 143 193 189 177 199 1836

Yes

4

29 37 38 31 39 35 20 28 39 41 27 30 394

No

202 167 148 152 119 181 137 159 236 220 219 231 2171

Southern Shores Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

4

73 136 126 162 77 93 144 173 135 141 97 179 231 66

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

156 138 77 98 145 71 151 116 90 136 147 123 49 80

3

72 93 126 109 68 36 73 75 56 35 86 64 87 47

Bill

1 Yes No 74 67 99 163 72 71 76 106 73 89 48 51 989

Yes

141 53 47 62 162 65 127 38 89 51 119 56 153 59 224 86 180 53 168 57 128 27 104 38 1642 645

1 Yes No 139 38 70 66 43 64 77 65 61 130 50 63 64 50

Total

Yes

No

St Anne’s

Bill

849 1577

No

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

No

1183 1264

Yes

119 36 54 50 37 147 43 70 48 107 58 69 54 44

2

Yes

2

No

163 39 197 151 106 134 172 245 210 200 149 119 1885

Yes

3

65 114 88 54 61 63 64 96 60 74 31 48 818

No 151 137 170 134 100 126 167 236 196 180 145 109 1851

Yes

4

38 119 50 22 36 39 35 62 27 34 15 26 503

No

175 144 210 166 23 151 196 269 230 222 161 130 2077

Tall Pines

Mount Moriah 4

Bill

No

91 207 215 344 228 266 140 161 194 168 157 167 145 2483

1 Yes No

Pinewood

No

553 2235

Yes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

No

Killarney

Bill

Englerston Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

445 1799

Elizabeth

17 73 78 80 70 106 94 61 64 37 72 121 77 950

2

Golden Isles

Bill 2

Yes No

79 123 64 68 53 69 73 47 70 39 71 79 68 58

Total

434 2541

Centreville Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Bill No

1

Golden Gates Bill

Carmichael Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

372 1795

Bamboo Town Bill

Bill

THE TRIBUNE

191 124 125 90 123 125 141 108 120 130 121 98 96 121

Yes

2

83 23 50 43 28 39 56 48 41 35 34 41 43 32

No 246 136 145 113 138 150 161 125 139 145 137 116 116 139

980 1713 596 2006

Yes

3

115 31 60 55 37 50 64 56 55 45 44 52 65 40

No 218 129 135 101 129 139 153 117 126 134 128 107 92 131

769 1839

Yes

4

61 15 33 21 18 21 31 31 36 20 27 31 32 17

No 272 149 162 135 148 165 186 143 142 159 146 126 126 154

394 2213

Yamacraw No 93 171 161 200 109 110 170 196 160 153 135 202 275 85

616 2220

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1 Yes No 109 216 73 98 80 139 65 41 87 94 118 125 86 1331

Yes

2

No

132 77 165 181 170 224 110 52 131 122 78 147 120 51 147 143 109 176 108 53 121 67 29 78 106 62 131 108 70 137 118 87 149 119 97 150 118 68 136 1552 1003 1892

Yes

3

101 188 61 98 67 117 57 38 74 87 104 115 75 1182

No 142 208 122 123 122 167 115 69 118 121 132 130 129 1698

Yes

4

63 135 38 60 46 75 27 22 42 55 63 78 50 754

No

178 262 145 160 153 209 137 86 154 153 171 166 154 2128

THE TRIBUNE

Central Grand Bahama Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 Yes No 49 54 110 52 28 37 76 118 92 34 42 93 75 65

Total

Yes

2

No

107 34 121 134 38 147 148 178 61 107 35 123 90 24 94 114 24 128 176 52 199 183 86 211 161 63 190 113 23 122 111 29 122 133 64 162 183 47 212 161 47 179

925 1921 744 2071

Yes

3

46 45 98 46 21 34 69 106 81 27 33 82 60 60

No

Yes

107 143 158 113 98 117 183 195 172 120 118 114 199 166

808 2003

4

18 28 46 22 22 17 41 69 45 14 15 48 29 28

No 136 160 211 134 97 135 212 232 208 132 135 178 229 198

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

1

Yes No 9 33 91 96 28 15 54 104 113 86 76 82 86 112 96 1081

Yes

38 8 144 27 143 62 216 64 52 15 76 14 66 33 216 66 81 88 148 63 98 61 157 97 110 65 155 82 118 75 1818 820

Marco City

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

1 Yes No 105 55 69 37 104 57 47 47 79 47 52 64 63 43 49 918

Yes

203 74 167 36 126 48 110 27 143 75 127 45 122 36 96 32 100 52 141 33 135 38 141 40 82 45 80 28 122 31 1895 640

Pineridge

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1

Yes No 52 60 49 60 25 56 36 56 71 54 71 47 76 713

Yes

98 45 166 39 173 39 122 38 74 18 86 42 69 26 70 41 138 53 134 38 144 51 108 34 159 29 1541 493

2

No

38 153 173 247 66 75 87 253 105 171 113 142 136 192 139 2090

Yes

3

10 35 75 78 26 17 30 85 94 76 64 89 76 90 86 931

No 37 149 160 234 53 72 74 233 100 158 105 146 121 184 128 1954

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

1

Yes No 61 27 80 70 66 49 53 45 32 40 31 41 39 53 57 744

Yes

58 47 31 21 104 57 157 52 135 48 99 46 91 32 24 31 36 30 58 31 56 29 92 31 80 24 94 37 94 38 1209 554

Yes

4

10 18 43 50 13 11 44 40 81 38 39 62 53 68 55 625

No

36 161 191 260 67 79 90 277 114 195 132 176 144 204 128 2254

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

237 186 147 119 171 137 132 111 127 154 149 164 100 96 140 2170

2

No

105 186 183 144 81 91 28 84 155 151 164 121 181 1674

Yes

3

89 51 63 39 88 53 43 40 67 45 49 49 48 40 40 804

Yes

3

50 51 53 56 24 54 34 47 67 53 60 38 65 652

No 219 171 131 107 157 133 128 102 112 142 138 156 97 84 129 2006

No 100 173 168 125 75 78 71 81 147 135 155 115 168 1591

Yes

4

49 24 35 17 62 37 24 21 42 24 26 30 33 20 23 467

Yes

No

258 198 158 130 182 146 146 121 137 165 161 175 112 104 146 2339

4

32 20 25 32 15 32 17 21 39 22 37 28 29

No 119 203 196 149 84 100 88 101 170 167 177 126 200

349 1880

2

No

72 37 124 175 152 104 113 35 41 67 58 105 95 113 112 1403

Yes

3

53 25 71 62 57 50 33 43 35 34 30 31 28 42 45 639

No 64 33 111 168 142 100 92 25 34 64 59 101 91 108 104 1296

Yes

4

41 13 45 40 33 33 24 32 20 23 17 20 112 26 24 503

No

78 45 132 189 157 113 118 35 49 75 71 113 109 123 124 1531

2

No

27 12 22 17 81 45 68 58 99 19 95 23 153 24 137 40 91 34 77 47 103 68 90 80 29 81 17 92 42 11 38 15 44 21 41 24 26 48 25 49 37 95 28 104 5 133 2 135 737 591 640 684

Yes

3

No

23 16 54 69 96 22 136 42 80 45 93 76 17 93 35 18 34 31 27 47 30 104 3 134 628 697

Yes

4

16 40 85 105 61 58 9 22 28 17 18 1 460

No 23 84 33 70 63 107 101 30 37 57 115 136 856

North Abaco Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

1 Yes No 9 44 18 34 22 75 121 62 45 48 56 56 590

Yes

91 8 101 30 28 13 158 21 96 12 154 49 53 93 174 46 150 30 121 28 129 46 102 36 1357 412

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

2

No

93 114 30 171 105 176 81 192 163 137 142 122 1526

Yes

3

11 29 18 27 15 62 85 61 36 33 46 47 470

No 89 106 28 166 100 165 91 175 157 135 138 110 1460

Yes

4

3 21 12 10 7 32 50 31 26 13 20 19 244

No

98 121 30 183 109 195 121 204 166 152 166 139 1684

1 Yes No

2

Yes

No

6 5 5 6 19 13 17 15 21 38 17 41 25 43 23 45 23 37 16 48 13 16 8 21 30 40 22 51 33 52 31 55 21 61 18 65 17 28 13 29 38 43 29 52 22 58 15 68 268 434 214 496

Yes

3

No

5 6 17 15 20 38 23 45 18 39 10 19 27 46 32 54 22 62 14 26 35 45 15 64 238 459

Yes

4

No

5 6 13 19 12 44 15 52 12 46 8 21 17 57 21 65 17 66 7 33 18 63 9 69 154 541

North Andros & Berry Island

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

17 26 15 20 31 57 28 60 22 34 23 34 38 72 32 75 14 26 13 28 7 23 6 24 7 7 7 7 64 100 46 116 122 22 19 33 22 31 19 33 7 10 6 11 9 28 7 31 9 20 9 20 369 456 230 492

Yes

3

No

15 30 29 59 21 35 37 72 15 25 4 25 7 7 50 113 19 32 19 32 8 9 7 30 9 20 240 489

Yes

4

No

9 34 25 63 19 37 26 83 9 32 4 25 8 7 42 119 19 31 19 33 4 13 4 32 5 25 193 534

Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador Bill

Central & South Abaco

Bill

Bill

Bill

West Grand Bahama & Bimini Bill

Mangrove Cay & South Andros

442 2397

East Grand Bahama

Bill

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 13

FAMILY ISLANDS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

34 24 28 30 27 16 25 18 11 33 11 33 16 8 13 11 24 30 17 31 9 37 11 36 19 22 18 23 4 11 3 12 23 13 19 16 39 83 77 94 33 18 30 21 239 295 252 325

Yes

3

No

33 25 26 17 12 33 15 9 20 34 9 37 18 22 2 13 23 12 81 90 31 18 270 310

Yes

4

No

22 36 21 23 6 36 12 12 13 40 7 39 12 28 2 13 16 19 57 111 25 25 193 382

Central & South Eleuthera Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

76 119 61 88 97 79 22 18 21 45 45 36 42 68 34 24 39 19 18 27 13 3 3 2 45 133 41 22 30 16 39 83 32 30 44 25 22 34 14 476 740 393

No 133 105 19 52 78 45 31 4 138 35 93 49 41 823

Yes

3

59 82 21 38 38 19 14 2 44 19 37 30 16 419

No 137 102 19 50 73 44 30 4 133 33 89 44 39 797

Yes

4

No

53 139 72 114 20 20 29 55 29 82 17 47 9 34 1 5 30 145 18 34 28 96 21 53 12 42 339 866

North Eleuthera Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 Yes No 72 27 56 47 64 61 24 4 23 56 6 54 33 31

Total

72 21 48 76 76 66 18 13 65 75 13 61 68 58

Yes

2

No

Yes

3

No

Yes

4

No

60 80 21 28 45 60 38 85 36 100 37 81 15 27 2 15 17 59 38 94 5 14 43 71 25 74 24 64

60 82 27 22 63 63 33 90 32 104 35 83 18 24 2 15 17 60 44 86 6 14 49 66 70 70 29 60

45 97 18 31 36 67 20 102 21 116 26 92 3 39 1 15 12 60 29 98 5 14 35 77 19 78 23 65

558 730 406 852

485 839

293 951

The Exumas & Ragged Island Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

8 29 7 30 8 63 8 60 14 5 12 8 19 8 16 11 39 39 33 44 35 51 28 58 36 46 27 52 30 40 23 47 30 29 26 33 56 42 48 51 29 33 28 37 72 59 59 72 70 76 49 96 29 46 20 55 42 36 38 39 10 5 9 6 527 607 431 699

Yes

3

No

7 30 8 59 15 3 16 11 34 43 38 49 34 45 28 42 30 29 48 49 29 34 66 65 58 86 28 47 39 38 10 5 488 635

Yes

4

No

6 29 8 60 10 9 16 12 24 54 24 64 15 60 16 63 18 41 42 59 25 38 51 81 40 105 20 55 31 45 9 6 355 781

Long Island Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

6 21 6 21 14 8 12 9 43 30 40 32 31 32 21 42 27 32 25 34 44 19 34 29 7 14 5 16 32 27 30 27 24 53 19 56 228 236 192 266

Yes

3

No

9 18 11 11 42 30 26 37 25 34 38 25 9 12 30 28 20 57 210 252

Yes

4

No

4 23 10 12 33 40 14 49 19 39 20 42 5 15 17 40 16 62 138 322

Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Isl, Acklins & Long Cay Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

1 Yes No

Yes

2

No

Yes

3

No

Yes

4

No

54

68

48

83

51

73

32

88

16 13 7 15

31 14 12 43

13 11 6 12

33 17 13 47

15 12 5 13

32 16 14 46

12 7 4 9

35 20 16 49

43 43 35 51 148 211 125 244

36 49 132 230

29 58 93 266

JUST THREE CONSTITUENCIES BACKED ANY OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

from page one

The Parliamentary Registration Department has suggested that all outstanding results should be made available at some point today.

Of the five constituencies in Grand Bahama, none came close a prevailing ‘yes’ vote. Each polling division in each constituency reported a pronounced defeat for the ‘yes’ vote.

In Abaco, it was a tale of two halves as residents in North Abaco rejected all four bills firmly, while those in Central and South Abaco approved bill one, nearly approved bills two and three and rejected bill four by roughly 210 votes.

In Andros, the pronounced deficit for “yes” votes in a number of the polling stations made it clear that residents were not on board with the proposed amendments.

That was certainly the trend throughout the figures presented for the other constituencies.

Bill two as written would have allowed a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man the right to secure for her husband the same access to Bahamian citizenship as a Bahamian male has in relation to his foreign wife.

Bill four, regarded as the most controversial, sought to prevent discrimination of any type based on sex being defined as being born male or born female.

READERS HAVE SAY ON REFERENDUM VOTE

AFTER Tuesday’s referendum result, readers took to tribune242.com to give their reactions.

Clamshell asked: “What can we say about a nation that cannot keep its electricity on long enough to count its votes?”

GrassRoot said: “I wish the Church would do something against the latent analphabetism and high levels of diabetes and extra martial sex and affairs and husbands abandoning their wives and children and alcohol and corruption. If these pastors are so powerful to turn around a referendum, I wonder what keeps these High Priests’ and Judases from uprooting corruption and removing this rotten government?”

SP paid tribute to Dame Joan Sawyer: “. . . (she) has positioned herself as an individual the people can trust . . . Outstanding courage, fortitude and unusual display of a ‘learned’ individual vehemently opposing the status quo of ‘elites’ has earned Dame Joan Sawyer great respect and a place in Bahamian history!

Her loud voice in the wilderness among peers will forever be known as the ‘one that stood apart’ from ALL THE REST!” Victor thought the PLP’s stance in 2002 had come back to haunt them: “The PLP in 2002 came up with the slogan, ‘If you don’t know, vote ‘No’.’ Now it bit them in the rear and they are crying. Had they supported this issue in 2002, we wouldn’t be in this position now.”

Birdiestrachan said: “I voted yes to one and no to three of the bills. I was going to vote ‘Yes’ to Number one, But the wording was different from the copy I had been given before . . . I was influenced by no one I read and understood what the bills were all about.”

• Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

THE TRIBUNE

‘THE PEOPLE’S PAPER’

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 15

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PAGE 16, Thursday, June 9, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

HONOURS PRESENTED

BY GOVERNOR GENERAL

RECIPIENTS of honours at Government House last week receiving their awards, which had been named during the Queen’s Honours listing.

Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

THE Governor General, Dame Marguerite Pindling, presented Insignia of Orders of Chivalry and other Queen’s Honours at Government House last week.

Also honoured by the Queen were Sir Franklyn Wilson and Dame Anita Allen, who were knighted at Buckingham Palace in London. The recipients at Government House were: Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George: William McCartney.

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division): James Catalyn, Cleophas

Adderley, Telator Strachan and Dr Philip Rahming.

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division): Thomas Basden, George Pinder, Dennis Hall, Joshua Culmer, Dr Marina Sands, Ansil Saunders, Romeo Farrington.

British Empire Medal: Curtis Hanna, Hilton Bowleg, Revy Francis, Carmetta Burns, Doris Farah, Sister Agatha Hunt, Everette Ferguson.

The Queen’s Police Medal: Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Steven Seymour, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retired) Bishop Hulan Hanna.

PM hopes to speed up Baha Mar construction

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday the government is currently “observing and energising” negotiations between the Export Import Bank of China (EXIM) and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in hopes of “persuading the acceleration” of construction at Baha Mar. Responding to criticism from East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest in the House of Assembly yes-

terday, Mr Christie denied misleading the public on the progress of Baha Mar negotiations and said the government does not control when construction on the 3.5 billion stalled resort will restart.

“The point I made in my previous conversation (in Parliament) was that essentially the matter was between the financing bank and the receiving managers and I laid on the table a statement which has now been acted upon,” Mr Christie said.

“Mr Speaker, very active decisions are currently being

made with respect to the construction site. I do not control the activity, it is a matter between the bank, the receiving manager and the courts. But because we are the Ministry of Finance in the Office of the Prime Minister, we are observing and persuading the acceleration and energizing of the construction site and it’s progress.”

Last month, Prime Minister Christie touted the government’s success in negotiations with the EXIM Bank and CSCEC over the stalled Baha Mar resort, saying all parties have entered into a “framework

agreement” to complete the project “as expeditiously as possible”.

However he gave no concrete resolution on the issue of payment to unsecured Bahamian creditors, only saying they would be “considered” during the re-mobilisation process, adding that negotiations were underway to agree to appropriate timelines and a schedule for completion.

During his earlier communication in the House, Mr Christie further addressed concerns over whether new contractors would be hired to complete

Baha Mar. He said courtappointed receiver managers confirmed that CSCEC and China Construction America (CCA) Bahamas are contracted to, and will remain in place to, finish the resort.

While reading a joint statement on behalf of the EXIM Bank and CSCEC, Mr Christie maintained his optimism saying the framework agreement provided a pathway forward for the completion of the resort.

Baha Mar announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 29, 2015 in a US

court. However the cases for the resort’s Bahamian properties were thrown out.

Last October, the Supreme Court placed the resort into receivership at the request of the EXIM Bank.

A formal sale process for the $3.5 billion project began in March, when Baha Mar’s court appointed receivers hired a Canadian real estate firm to market the project to potential buyers.

The resort was initially slated to open December 2014, but faced a series of delays, which it blamed on CCA.

FNM LEADER HITS OUT AT GOVT IN WAKE OF LATEST TRAVEL WARNING FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday railed against the government for what he called its failure to

impact the country’s crime rate in light of a renewed travel warning from the Canadian government.

Dr Minnis said the government’s continued failures were threatening the tourism industry, “the life-

blood of our economy.”

“Canadians visit The Bahamas at the second highest rate, second only to the United States – another country that recently issued their own travel warning,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

“We cannot afford to have these tourists frightened away – it will cripple our industry.”

“Record high murder rates, and countless stories of the latest violent crime dominating the front page of our papers have had a chilling effect on the entire country and it continues to bleed out beyond our islands.

“As horrific as the crime rate has become, what’s more

astounding is the lack of action from the government.”

As reported in The Tribune on Wednesday, in an updated travel advisory the Canadian government advised its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to the Bahamas due to high rates of crime, especially in Nassau.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis said it was clear that the government did not have a plan, adding that the 2016/2017 budget failed to offer any assurances that the Christie-led administration understood the severity of the problem.

Dr Minnis said: “The people demand to know

when this government will act.

“Four years ago they promised to root out crime, but it has only gotten worse.

Four years ago they promised to re-invigorate our tourism industry, but instead tourism is spiralling downward, and now these two major issues slam into each other and we find ourselves at a crossroad but unfortunately for Bahamians the PLP is lost.”

“This is an issue of life and death – our people are suffering through staggering crime, coupled with the negative impact the crime epidemic has on our economy,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 9, 2016, PAGE 17

ABOVE - Randy McKinney on the Permit in Crooked Island.

TOP RIGHT - Deek Sweeting put his guest on nice Yellowfin Tuna near Eleuthera.

IN THE Bahamas, due to its popularity and unparalleled number and size of fish, bonefishing is a category unto itself.

You can fly fish for bonefish, but fly fishing techniques can be used for many other kinds of fish too.

It’s also pretty safe to say that any bonefishing guide is also an expert guide at finding whatever kind of fish you are looking to fly fish for.

Tarpon, Permit, Snappers, Jacks and Barracuda are all worthy game fish, each with their own tendencies.

Permit, for example, are finicky about what they eat. They will charge in at a fly, then pull back just before a bite. So teasing them into biting takes patience. Tarpon are really large flats fish, sometimes

up to 200lbs, which by itself makes them challenging.

But they are also extremely acrobatic, often leaping and running hard, leading to a long fight.

Keep checking the Bahamas Sport Fishing Network (BSFN) expert page for fishing reports throughout the Bahamas: this will be helpful in tracking the “hot spots” and providing advice on gear and fishing methods being used.

For a sample of the spectacular fishing to be had in the Bahamas, expert advice, tournament dates and results, informative features and photo galleries visit the BSFN page at tribune242. com or www.bsfn.biz.

BSFN slideshows can be found on USA Today’s website in the Travel section at experience.usatoday.com.

BSFN expert David Rees and John were on the Yellowfin Tuna in Abaco.

BSFN expert Justin Russell put his guest on a nice Mahi in Abaco.

PAGE 18, Thursday, June 9, 2016

CASTING THEIR VOTES

THE TRIBUNE

AROUND the country, people cast their votes on referendum day - including Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, above right.

VOTING at Golden Gates.

DR Michael Darville casts his vote.

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Switch to a Scotiabank Mortgage today and enjoy benefits that will make you feel right at home.

THE WIFE of the Prime Minister, Bernadette Christie, casts her vote.

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PRIME Minister Perry Christie’s daughter Alex casts her vote.

THE PRIME Minister at the ballot.

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LYNN Holowesko on referendum day.