On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham advised Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes to dissolve Parliament paving the way for General Elections for the 38 constituencies of The Bahamas to be held on Monday, May 7, 2012.

The new Parliament will meet on May 23, exactly five years from the first sitting of the present Parliament.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has ‘rung the bell’, announcing the election date. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)

“Whatever the outcome, this will be an historic election on many levels,” says Ingraham.

With the voter registry now closed, the Prime Minister announced that there are some 172,000 registered voters in The Bahamas – 22,000 more registered voters than in the last election. It is the highest number of registered voters ever recorded in The Bahamas.

“No matter what Political Party you lean toward, the most important thing you can do if you are a registered voter is vote,” says Ingraham, leader of the governing Free National Movement party.

The other major political parties are the Progressive Liberal Party led by former Prime Minister Perry Christie (pictured left), who served as leader of the country from 2002 to 2007, and Branville McCartney (right), leader of the Democratic National Alliance. McCartney once served as a Cabinet Minister in Ingraham’s administration.

Ingraham says his government is making sure that those registered voters who are unable to vote on Election Day because of travel schedules, hospitalization, pregnancies, or government assignments overseas, will not miss their opportunity to exercise that right. Early voting will be made possible for those who are unable to cast a ballot on Election Day.

“Equally as important, we must have a clean, free, fair and honest election as these are the most sacred aspects of democracy and it is in that endeavour we invited, for the first time ever, international observers from the Organization of American States, Caricom and the United States of America to come to The Bahamas and see a truly historical event,” says Ingraham.

tblair@dupuch.com