Parliament of the Bahamas

Parliament of The Bahamas
HM Government   PLP (12) HM Most Loyal Opposition   FNM (4)
HM Government   PLP (32) HM Most Loyal Opposition   FNM (7)
Elections
House's First-past-the-post
Last House's election	16 September 2021
Meeting place
Bahamian Parliament, Nassau, The Bahamas

The Parliament of The Bahamas is the

, the national capital.

The structure, functions, and procedures of the parliament are based on the Westminster system.

History

Originally inhabited by the

.

In 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the lords proprietors of the Carolinas, who rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country.^[1] The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy.

A General Assembly was established in 1729; the

gathered together at the house of Samuel Lawford to form the assembly.

The Bahamas legislature has had a bicameral feature since its inception in 1729 as the Governor's Council performed both executive and legislative functions. In 1841 Governor Francis Cockburn divided Governors Council into two separate councils: The Executive Council to deal with executive functions and the Legislative Council to deal with legislative functions of the upper house. In 1841 the Bahamian legislature took on more structure, with the Legislative Council being the superior legislative body and the House of Assembly being the lesser. The Legislative Council eventually was renamed to the Senate in 1964 and became the weaker house while the House of Assembly became the superior legislative body. The Senate is however still known as the upper house and the House of Assembly still as the lower house.^[2]

Bahamians achieved self-government in 1964 and full independence within the

.

House of Assembly

See also:

List of current members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas

The House of Assembly is the

prime minister

is the leader of the party controlling the majority of the House of Assembly seats. Dewitt Halson Moultrie was elected the new speaker of the House of Assembly on May 24, 2017.

Latest election

Democratic National Alliance						1,742	1.38	0	0
	United Coalition Movement	701	0.55	0	New
	Kingdom Government Movement	515	0.41	0	New
	Grand Commonwealth Party	260	0.21	0	New
	Righteous Government Movement	61	0.05	0	New
	Independents	2,438	1.93	0	0
Total		126,414	100.00	39	0
Registered voters/turnout		194,494	–
Source: BL EW

Senate

The Senate (upper house) consists of 16 members appointed by the

, and three on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition. The Senate is authorized by the Constitution to pass bills in the same manner as passed by the House or it can make such amendments to the bill should it consider it necessary. Those amendments will then have to be approved by the House of Assembly. The Senate may even reject a bill outrightly that had been passed by the House. However, if the House passes the bill in two successive sessions, and the Senate rejects the bill each time, the House of Assembly may send the bill directly to the governor-general without the Senate having consented to the bill.

If the House passes a money bill and sends that bill to the Senate for its consent, and if the Senate does not give its consent within a month after receiving the bill, the money bill is sent to the governor-general for assent even though the Senate had not consented to it[4]

In a historic vote, attorney

was unanimously elected to a second term as president of the Senate, marking the first time a woman won re-election to head that legislative body. She previously served as president of the Senate from 2002 to 2007, and succeeded Lynn Holowesko, who served as president of the Senate from 2007 to 2012.

K. Forbes Smith was elected the new president of the Senate on May 24, 2017.

Legislative functions

Parliament is empowered by Article 52(1) of the Constitution to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Bahamas. The Constitution also empowers Parliament to:

• determine the privileges, immunities, powers, and procedures of both the Senate and the House of Assembly;
• alter or amend any of the provisions of the constitution;
• prescribe the officers who are to constitute the personal staff of the Governor-General;
• prescribe the number of Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal; and
• approve the Government's budget.^[5]

Parliament also maintains oversight of the government's finances through the Public Accounts Committee. Parliament is also the forum where public policy and matters of national importance are debated.

Legislative procedure

Most of the laws passed by Parliament are for the modification or amendment of existing laws.

Article 52(2) of the Constitution empowers Parliament to make laws by the passing of a

may introduce a bill. A bill must be passed by both the House of Assembly and Senate, and then must be formally assented to by the governor-general, before it becomes law.

There are currently four main classifications of bills: public, money, private member, and private bills.

A bill must pass through a series of stages in order to be passed by each^[

1. A bill is formally introduced into Parliament at the
   long title being read out and the presiding officer placing the motion
   without debate. After the first reading, the speaker orders the bill to be printed; it is then numbered, circulated to members of parliament, and made available to the public.
2. At the
   second reading
   , the principle of the bill is debated.
3. At the
   committee of the whole house
   , with the speaker leaving the chair and the deputy speaker presiding as chairperson. During this stage the bill is examined clause by clause, with detailed amendments considered. After the bill has been dealt with in committee, the chairperson formally reports to the speaker the outcome of the committee's deliberations, including what amendments have been made.
4. The
   third reading
   is the final stage; the motion made by the speaker for the third reading is usually agreed to without debate. once a bill has had its third reading, the speaker orders the bill passed, and instructs the chief clerk to take the bill to the Senate for its consideration.

Each bill consists of five main parts: the long title, the short title, the interpretation clause, the main body of the bill and the objects and reasons. The long title is a description of the nature of the bill and covers the intent of the bill. The short title follows the long title and labels the bill for identification purposes. The short title sometimes also contains the commencement clause, which states when the bill will have legal force. The short title in turn is followed by the interpretation clause, which defines certain words and phrases used in the bill. The body of the bill consists of all of the other clauses, which contain the provisions of the bill, that is, they contain all of the measures that the bill is enacting. The objects and reasons is the final part of a bill and it seeks to explain in layman's terms the purpose of the bill and the reason why it is necessary.

Members

• List of members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas, 2002–2007
• List of members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas, 2007–2012
• List of members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas, 2012–2017
• List of members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas, 2017–2021
• List of current members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas

See also

• List of presidents of the Senate of the Bahamas
• List of speakers of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas
• List of legislatures by country

References

1. ^ "Diocesan History". © Copyright 2009 Anglican Communications Department. 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
2. ^ "History of Parliament — House of Assembly — Government". Bahamas.gov.bs. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
3. ^ "The Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas" (PDF). Retrieved 4 August 2020.
4. ^ "Restrictions on the Power of the Senate". Government of the Bahamas.
5. ^ "Functions of Parliament". Government of the Bahamas.
6. ^ "About the Parliament". The Government of The Bahamas. Retrieved 1 September 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parliament of the Bahamas.

• The Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, The Government of the Bahamas, accessed 15 March 2013.