In a sure sign that general elections are approaching, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced in the House of Assembly on Wednesday that he planned to immediately invite Governor General Arthur D. Hanna to appoint a Constituencies Commission, which he expects to soon begin its work.
The Commission ﾖ also known as a Boundaries Commission ﾖ will examine existing constituencies to determine whether they should remain or be altered.
Presently, there are 40 constituencies in the country.
House Speaker Oswald Ingraham will chair the Commission, and a justice of the Supreme Court will also be appointed as deputy chair by the governor general on the advice of the chief justice.
The governor general will also appoint two members to the commission on the advice of the prime minister, and another member on the advice of the leader of the Official Opposition.
Article 69 of the Constitution requires the prime minister to advise the governor general to constitute the Constituencies Commission.
In June, Free National Movement Chairman Desmond Bannister called for the formation of the Boundaries Commission, and demanded to know when Prime Minister Christie would “carry out his constitutional duty” and put the commission in place.
Mr. Bannister pointed out at the time that elections are likely less than a year away, and the country does not yet know what and how many constituencies there will be in the general elections anticipated for 2007.
“It is pointless for [the FNM] to even start naming candidates because we cannot even name the member to the Boundaries Commission because the prime minister has not appointed his members yet or appointed the commission,” he told The Bahama Journal.
But Prime Minister Christie, who spoke with the Journal shortly after, said, “Iﾒm surprised that the chairman of the FNM would have made that point about the Boundaries Commission.
“I can only assume that that reflects their difficulty and uncertainty as to who should be their candidates. He ought to know that the former prime minister appointed the Boundaries Commission in June of 2001 and it reported in November of 2001 and it was not until it reported that I knew where I would run. So we are still in the month of June. Elections can go on next year as well as this year, obviously.”
It was not revealed up to Wednesday who the members of the Commission are likely to be.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
