NASSAU, Bahamas, May 8, CMC – Five years after it was swept out of office, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) reversed its 2007 defeat on Monday and sent Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham back into private life.
PLP supporters took to the streets in celebration following an election campaign dominated by unhappiness over high unemployment and crime in this archipelago of 700 islands.
The unemployment rate has risen to nearly 15 per cent in the country of about 350,000 people and foreclosures have increased. There were a record 127 murders last year, roughly 30 more than the previous year.
The margin of victory for the PLP led by former prime minister Perry Christie, 69, should be known today when the official results are released.
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA), which also contested the election, failed to win a seat.
Ingraham, who, had previously served as prime minister from 1992 to 2002, won his North Abaco constituency to return to the 38-seat parliament and conceded defeat by telling supporters he wanted to “publicly congratulate (Christie’s) party.”
“Today, the Bahamas once again demonstrated the vitality and endurance of our proud democratic heritage,” Ingraham told supporters at the party’s headquarters.
“I would like to congratulate the leader of the party and his candidates. I should like to thank the FNM for making me their leader,” said Ingraham, who was seeking a second consecutive term in office.
“I shall not go on to lead this party as the opposition. I shall not set my feet in the House of Assembly, and I shall return to private life from whence I came,” he added.
Christie, who is expected to be sworn in as prime minister today, urged national unity, saying “this has been a bitterly contested election, and now it is over it is time for national healing to begin”.
