Anthony L. Hall is a descendant of the Turks & Caicos Islands, international lawyer and political consultant - headquartered in Washington DC - who publishes his own weblog, The iPINIONS Journal, at http://ipjn.com offering commentaries on current events from a Caribbean perspective

According to the national newspaper of record, the Nassau Guardian, the opposition FNM has ousted the ruling PLP in dramatic fashion. And the Party now has 24 seats - versus the PLP’s 17 - in the 41-seat legislative House of Assembly. (Although the final count for two seats is being contested, recounts, if allowed, are not expected alter these results.) The previous composition of the House was PLP 29, FNM 7, and Independent 4.

Even though the FNM lambasted his government with pot-calling-the-kettle-black charges about giving away too much “Crown Land” to foreign investors, it was really Prime Minister Perry Christie’s failure of leadership, which was highlighted by the scandal surrounding the late Anna Nicole Smith, that sealed the PLP’s doom. In fact I criticized his shortcomings in this respect when I wrote the following (in this article on 20 February about the burgeoning scandal involving his minister of immigration, Shane Gibson, who was grappling with the damning accusation that he fast-tracked the residency permit of Anna Nicole for personal reasons):

This, alas, brings me to the antic support he received from our beloved prime minister [Perry Christie] - who wistfully described Gibson as a “competent and capable individual [whose resignation will be] a loss for the entire country”. Because, frankly, I was stupefied when he echoed the charge that Gibson was a victim of “an organized conspiracy to take him out”.

After all, if Mr Christie believed that the leader of the opposition (FNM) party was trying to scapegoat such a valuable member of his cabinet and a man he considers a “genuine friend”, then he should have encouraged Gibson “to stand to slug it out” – as Gibson made clear he wanted to do during that ill-fated interview. Especially since, after accepting his resignation, the prime minister lamented the irony, if not hypocrisy, that when three members of the opposition were similarly compromised they refused to resign...

But in that same article (and in this one from 3 March) I admonished Christie as follows:

Accordingly, again I plea: To preserve the integrity of his government, Prime Minister Perry Christie must demand Gibson’s resignation [not only as minister but also as a renominated MP] forthwith!

And my plea is urgent. Because it is very likely that more embarrassing, if not incriminating, information about Mr Gibson’s involvement with Anna Nicole will be published in the coming days and weeks to titillate the world and humiliate us. Indeed, it behooves the prime minister to appreciate that his failure to act decisively in this regard is having a corrosive effect on his re-election prospects.

I rather suspect that Christie now regrets not heeding my advice. (But may God forgive the people of Gibson’s constituency for re-electing him despite his scandalous machinations.)

Nevertheless, here’s to the FNM - whose members now have the duty, honor and privilege of forming a Bahamian government of all the people, by a majority of the people, for all the people. And, congratulations (and welcome back) to their irrepressible leader, Prime Minister-Elect The Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham (who also served as prime minister from 1992-2002).

We will devote all of our energies to the continued development of our nation in every respect - economic, political, social and cultural. We ask our political opponents and all Bahamians to join us in this endeavour. [PM-Elect Ingraham]

Hear, hear!

With this contentious political business now settled, I hereby extend this invitation on behalf of all Bahamians to people all over the world to come luxuriate under sunny skies on our beautiful beaches for what we guarantee will be the vacation of a lifetime.

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