UPDATE: Bahamas Information Services has released a photo of a new proclamation signed by Governor-General Sir Cornelius A Smith, effectively allowing for the next session of Parliament to be held on Baha Mar premises.
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has accused the incoming Davis administration of conducting an “unconstitutional excursion” to Baha Mar for the Opening of Parliament and Speech from The Throne proceedings.
In a statement dated October 6, Minnis noted that Article 65(1) or the Constitution provides for “Each Session of Parliament shall be held at such place and commence at such time as the Governor-General may by Proclamation appoint”.
He furthered that when the House of Assembly was dissolved on August 19, 2021, a Second Proclamation was read whereby the Governor-General summoned the new Parliament and proclaimed “that the next session of Parliament shall be held in the City of Nassau”.
“The Baha Mar property sits outside the boundaries of the City of Nassau, as legally defined,” Minnis said.
“There has not been any new Proclamation issued by the Governor-General to permit the start of the new session of Parliament to be anywhere else on the Island of New Providence, other than in the City of Nassau.
“Hence the ceremony proposed to be held at the Baha Mar Hotel on the morning of the 6th October 2021 is a breach of the provisions of the Proclamation and therefore of the Constitution.”
Minnis said a new Proclamation is required to validate the unconstitutional exercise, which he states can only lawfully occur at Baha Mar after the reading of the new Proclamation.
According to City Revitalization (Amendment) Act 2013, the boundaries of the City of Nassau are defined as: “All that part of New Providence bounded on the north by the Harbour of Nassau, on the east by Mackey Street, on the south by an imaginary line starting at a point approximately three hundred and eighty yards to the south of the junction of Mackey Street and Shirley Street and continuing in a straight line to the south-east corner of the grounds of the Princess Margaret Hospital, thence south-westerly to Prison Lane, thence to the division wall between the Barracks and the Prison, thence in a straight line westwardly to the junction of Dillet Street and Blue Hill Road and following the centre of Dillet Street and Meeting Street to Nassau Street, and on the west by Nassau Street. The City of Nassau shall also include the whole of Paradise Island, also Potters Cay and all other islets and cays in the Harbour of Nassau.”
Parliamentary proceedings are expected to get underway at Baha Mar at 9.30am.
Tune into Eyewitness News live coverage of proceedings on REV 224 or BTC 112 or live on Facebook.
