Majority Rule : A look back

By Patricia Beardsley Roker

That the Election of January 10, 1967 was a momentous turning point in Bahamian history is not a matter of debate.

The drama of the tied vote and the decisions of Labour Member of Parliament, Randol Fawkes, to cross over to the side of the Progressive Liberal Party in order to break the deadlock and of Independent MP, Alvin Braynen, to accept the position of Speaker of the House will certainly go down in the history books of The Bahamas as one of its most decisive events, one that would shape the modern Bahamas. However, the drama and tension filled days leading up to that Election also deserve to be remembered whenever "January 10th, 1967" is mentioned.

Although an election was not required to be called until November 1967, Bahamians were ready for a change. The prevailing mood of the majority of the people in the colony strongly echoed what Milo Butler had told the Guardian four years before: "We have been run by the UBP and their forefathers for 300 years and it is time we ran ourselves ... There are 88 per cent of the population who look like you and me and only 12 per cent who look like the UBP people ... No rhyme or reason why people who look like that should go on ruling us."

Fearful of the damage that further public disclosures of alleged under the table dealings, as well as the impending threat of a Royal Commission investigation into their Government, the UBP moved rapidly to cut off voter registration. Then, on December 1st, 1966, Sir Roland Symonette, Premier and Leader of the embattled United Bahamian Party Government, called a General Election for Tuesday, January 10, 1967, a full eleven months before it was due. The parties were immediately plunged into a campaign that raged throughout the Christmas-holiday season, something was condemned by many of the candidates.

Brotherly love

In a December 23 radio broadcast, PLP Leader, Lynden Pindling said: "At this time of year, when brotherly love should reign supreme in our hearts and our minds ought to be turned to the birth of our Lord Jesus, instead we have been deliberately, greedily, and selfishly plunged into an election." He continued, "It was deliberate because the UBP Government did it on its own decision. It was greedy because the UBP Members thought only of what they could get out of it. It was selfish because the UBP Cabinet gave no thought as to how the peaceful Christmas of others might be disturbed. It was also un-Christian." Pindling concluded his address: "Never before in this country, have I ever heard of an election going on at this time of the year, the Yuletide season."

On January 5, 1967, the Nassau Guardian reported on a speech made by UBP candidate for Palmdale, Foster Clarke, in which Clarke compared the PLP's tactics to "the work of Hitler in his rise to power" and charged that the PLP was copying Karl Marx and the Communists. Clarke also went on to say that he believed that the PLP was mistaken to feel that just because blacks were in the majority they should rule. He affirmed his belief that the UBP Government was the best for the Bahamas because, unlike the PLP, he believed the UBP worked in the interests of the people.

Election morning was quiet and the atmosphere sober, according to the morning newspaper. Since many schools were used as polling stations, there were no classes. With only a lone traffic policeman, Bay Street felt deserted. Over the Hill, there were trucks and cars full of people, beating on goatskin drums. Silent and determined voters lined up at the polls.

Just before midnight

The polls closed at 6 PM. At 11 PM, Stafford Sands went on the radio to assure the country of a UBP victory "as sure as the rising of the morning sun." Preparations continued for a victory party at Sir Roland's home. Just before midnight, however, the word started to spread that the PLP had won 12 out of the 17 seats in New Providence. All over the Island, you could hear cowbells and drums as men, women and children got out of their beds to dance through the streets, laughing, shouting, singing and rejoicing in the incredible victory of the majority. In the words of Dame Dr. Doris Johnson in her book, The Quiet Revolution, "The black man's day had come."

When Wednesday, January 11th dawned, there was still no final word on the winner of the Election because the results from the Out Islands took a bit longer to be tallied and sent to Nassau. However, by mid-day, all the votes were counted, the astonishing surprise of the PLP victory in New Providence was surpassed by the stunning news that, for the first time in Bahamian history, there was a tie vote: the UBP and the PLP each had won 18 seats in the House of Assembly. Somehow, a coalition had to be formed in order to determine the next Government of the colony.

Fawkes and Braynen

After being approached by both Symonette and Pindling, two days later, on Friday, January 13th, Randol Fawkes, the only Labour Party candidate who had been elected in the General Election, choosing between the two parties, announced that he would throw his support behind the Progressive Liberal Party. The PLP's promise to Alvin Braynen, victorious Independent Member of the House from Harbour Island, to make him the Speaker if they were to form the Government, averted his crossing over the UBP and continuing the tie. The PLP had secured a majority of the seats in the House of Assembly. Finally, the election of "January 10th" had a winner.

First, first, first

On Saturday, January 14th, Governor Gray officially invited Lynden Pindling, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, to form the new Government. On Monday, January 16th, he was sworn in and named his new Cabinet of eleven, significantly smaller than the fourteen-person Cabinet of the UBP.

Exactly one week to the day after the tumultuous events of January 10th, in his nine minute "Fireside Chat" to the Nation broadcast over ZNS radio on January 17, the new Premier Pindling, eloquently summarized the results of the Election that would forever profoundly change the shape of Bahamian politics: "At long last, we now have a government of the people. This new government, formed by the Progressive Liberal Party, is the first to be elected under the new Constitution. It is the first to be elected on 'one man, one vote' basis. It is the first really popular government our country has ever really had."

POSTED Saturday, January 10, 2004

© 2003 The Nassau Guardian