Name: ______________________________

School: ______________________________

Grade: ______________________________

Teacher: ______________________________

Dear Student,

This “Remembering Sir. Lynden Commemorative Composition Notebook

is our gift to you, a precious jewel in the crown of our country’s future, on

the occasion of the 40th Independence Anniversary Celebration. As you

continue on your academic journey, let it serve as a reminder that the gov-

ernment of The Bahamas is always by your side. Have a wonderful year!

Yours truly,

Jerome Fitzgerald

Minister

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

Period

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NOTES

In the event of an emergency please contact ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

ABOUT

“Leaders, we must not forget, do not make themselves. They are made instead

by the people they lead, by the people who believe in them and by the people who are prepared to follow them not out of fear, or because it may be the in-thing to do, or because of some hypnotic spell, but because deep down there is a faith that moves them to lift us up to a height above their own in the hope that, from the lofty perch to which they have raised us, we can see what they cannot and, that having seen, we, as their leaders, can point the way forward into the tomorrows that await us all.”

Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling

Prime Minister

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

1967 – 1992

The Pindling Era - The Evolution of Bahamian Democracy

ABOUT

The Right Honourable Hubert Al-exander Ingraham was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of The Bahamas by His Excellency the Hon. Arthur D. Hanna Governor-General on May 4, 2007, follow-ing the May 02 general election in which the Free National Movement (FNM) party triumphed over the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). Mr. Ingraham was also sworn-in as Minister of Finance.

After his Government lost the 2012 General Elections, Mr. Ingraham an-nounced his resignation as FNM leader and as an MP. Members of the FNM elected Dr. Hubert Minnis to succeed Mr. Ingraham as Leader of the Party and of the Opposi-tion in the House of Assembly.

Mr. Ingraham previously served as Prime Minister when the FNM ousted a PLP administration in August 1992. That elec-tion victory ended 25 years of governance by the PLP which was led by the late Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling.

In the May 02, 2007 election, the FNM won 23 of 41 seats in the House of Assembly defeating the PLP under the lead-

ership of the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie.

Hubert Ingraham was born in Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama, on August 4, 1947. He grew up in Abaco and attended Cooper’s Town Public School, Cooper’s Town. He later attended the Southern Sen-ior School and the Government High School Evening Institute, in Nassau. Following brief periods of employment in the accounting departments of Owens-Illinois Sugar Mill Company in Abaco, The Bahamas Telecom-munications Corporation (BTC) and the Chase Manhattan Bank in Nassau, Mr. In-graham became an articled law clerk and was called to The Bahamas Bar in Decem-ber, 1972.

He entered private practice and became the senior partner in the firm of Christie, Ingraham & Co.

An active member and officer in the Nassau and Bahamas Jaycees, he en-tered front-line politics in 1975 when he was elected to the National General Coun-cil of the PLP. He became party chairman in 1976.

THE RIGHT HONORABLE HUBERT ALEXANDER INGRAHAM

FORMER PRIME MINISTER

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR NORTH ABACO CONSTITUENCY

The Ingraham Era - The Evolution of Bahamian Democracy

Mr. Ingraham was first elected to the House of Assembly in 1977 as the representative for his hometown constituency of Cooper’s Town, North Abaco. He was re-elected on six consecutive occa-sions as the representative for that constituency.

He has served as a member of the House Standing Committee on Privilege and Public Accounts, as chairman of a Select Committee on Influence Peddling and Political Contributions and as chairman of The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. He has also served as a member of the Air Transport Licensing Authority and chairman of the Real Property Tax Tribunal.

In 1982, Mr. Ingraham was appointed Minister responsible for Housing and National Insurance. He held the post for only two years. His public criticism of the then government’s inaction in the face of damaging revelations of corruption in high places by the 1984 Commission of Inquiry resulted in his dismissal from the Cabinet and in 1986, his expulsion from the PLP.

His strong personal political support in his constituency permitted him to continue to speak out against corruption in the govern-ment and to call for radical changes in the political culture of pat-ronage and nepotism. His re-election to Parliament as an Inde-pendent in 1987 made him a political force to be reckoned with.

Mr. Ingraham, joined the then Official Opposition Party, the Free National Movement, in 1990. In May of the same year he was elected leader of the party and appointed Leader of the Official Opposition.

He imprinted his style on the FNM. He made his belief in and calls for honest, open transparent and accountable government, a

fundamental tenet of his new party and energized its various fac-tions to pull off a stunning victory over the ruling party in a by-election in the Marco City constituency in Grand Bahama in June, 1990.

A child of working-class parents, Mr. Ingraham has a strong social conscience, which influenced the policies of his party and govern-ment. However, he is a pragmatic politician and, notwithstanding his strong identification with and ties to the grassroots of society, he has cultivated important relationships with the business com-munity of The Bahamas.

His first term in government was marked by a deliberate reduc-tion in the size of government, reducing government’s direct in-tervention in the economy and promoting fresh private invest-ment, both domestic and international. He and his government have been credited with the revitalization of The Bahamas' econ-omy since 1992, most particularly of its tourism sector, which has enjoyed massive international capital infusions, and its financial services sector, which restored confidence in The Bahamas as a clean financial jurisdiction and spurred increased international banking and trust businesses in recent years.

In 1993, he was made a member of Her Majesty’s most honorable Privy Council.

On March 03, 2000, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham, England.

He is married to the former Delores Miller of Long Island, a public high school principal. The couple has five children.

ABOUT

T he Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie was born in Nassau on

August 21st, 1943 to Gladstone L. Christie, a taxi driver and Naomi Christie nee Allen, a nurse. He grew up and was raised in the area of New Providence known as The Valley. He attended the Government High School but was later expelled, a critical turning point in his development as he committed himself to academic excel-lence, studying under the care of D. W. Davis. He went on to read law at the Uni-versity of London.

The Right Honorable Perry Gladstone Christie was sworn in as the fifth Prime Minister of an independent Bahamas on May 8th, 2012 following the Progressive Liberal’s Party (PLP) victory in the general elections of May 7, 2012. He is also the Minister of Finance with responsibility for the Office of the Prime Minister, Depart-ment of Lands and Surveys, Department of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance.

His present portfolio includes the follow-ing: Coordination of ministries, Govern-ment and Parliamentary business, disaster preparedness and emergency manage-ment, the official Gazette, Hansard, Gov-ernment Publications, Printing and Sta-tionery, relations with the Clifton Herit-age, Bahamas Information Services, rela-tions with The Bahamas Telecommunica-tions Company, relations with multi-lateral Financial Institutions, Administra-tion of Tax Information Exchange Agree-ments, national statistics among others.

He became the 3rd Prime Minister of The Bahamas on May 3rd, 2002 with the Pro-gressive Liberal Party’s triumph over the Free National Movement in a general elec-tion a day earlier. Official returns gave the former Opposition Leader’s party 29 of the 40 House of Assembly seats that were at stake. The FNM, which had governed The Bahamas for nearly a decade under Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham, won six seats.

THE RIGHT HONORABLE PERRY GLADSTONE CHRISTIE

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, CENTREVILLE CONSTITUENCY (NEW PROVIDENCE)

PRIME MINISTER and MINISTER OF FINANCE

The Christie Administration - The Evolution of Bahamian Democracy

Mr. Christie is believed to have been the youngest Bahamian ever appointed to the Senate. Named Senator by Prime Minis-ter the Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling in November, 1974, Mr. Christie served in that capacity until June, 1977. In January of the latter year he was appointed chairman of the Gaming Board, which regulates casinos in The Bahamas.

Receiving the PLP’s nomination for the Centreville constituency in the 1977 general election, Mr. Christie was elected Member of Parliament for that constituency, and shortly after appointed Minister of Health and National Insurance. During the June, 1982, general election, he was re-elected Member of Parliament for Centreville, and was once again appointed to the Prime Min-ister’s Cabinet, but as Minister of Tourism.

A dynamic Minister, Mr. Christie moved tourism in The Bahamas to new heights. In 1984, however, he was dismissed from the Cabinet, and during the 1987 general election ran as an inde-pendent candidate. He retained his seat in the Centreville con-stituency. Three years later – in March, 1990 – Mr. Christie re-turned to the fold of the Progressive Liberal Party, and was ap-pointed Minister of Agriculture, Trade and Industry by the Prime Minister. Mr. Christie’s ministerial responsibilities includ-ed the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Industry; mining, geo-logical surveys, petroleum, fuel, oils and petrochemicals, indus-tries encouragement, manufacturing, relations with The Baha-mas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, relations with The Bahamas National Trust, Andros reef and blue holes, and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Co-operatives.

In January, 1993, following the PLP’s defeat in the August, 1992, general election, Mr. Christie was elected Co-deputy leader of the PLP with responsibility for party activities outside parlia-ment. Victorious in the newly created Farm Road constituency in the general election, he was appointed Leader of the Opposi-tion by the Governor-General on April 07, 1997. He had been elected leader of the PLP at a special convention on April 05. Mr. Christie thus succeeded the late Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pind-ling, M.P., who had led the PLP since 1956 as both Leader of the Opposition and leader of the party.

Education: He attended the Eastern Senior School in New Provi-dence, the University Tutorial College, London, Inner Temple and Birmingham University, from which he graduated with hon-ors in 1969.

Civics/Social: He is a founding member of the Valley Boys, an organization noted for its entries in the annual Junkanoo pa-rades, and of the Pioneers Sporting Club. Mr. Christie’s athletic skills developed as a member of the Pioneers, and led to his representing The Bahamas at the 1960 West Indies Federation Games in Kingston, Jamaica, and at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Kingston in 1962, when he won a bronze medal in the triple jump.

Professional/Career: Mr. Christie is an Attorney-At-Law.

ABOUT

Jerome Fitzgerald was born on the April 3rd, 1966 on New Providence Island, Nas-sau, Bahamas. He is married to Zaria Fitz-gerald and they have three children togeth-er Edward, Jared and Zahra.

Mr. Fitzgerald was sworn in as Minister of Education, Science and Technology on May 10, 2012 and his Ministerial portfolio in-cludes: Education Scholarships, Education Loans, Distance Learning, Relations with the College of The Bahamas, Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute, Rela-tions with Church-operated and other pri-vate schools, Public Libraries and Reading Centers, Retired Public Record and Histori-cal Archives, Relations with the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums, Culinary and Hospitality Management Institute, Tech-nical Cadet Corps, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education pre-schools, Relations with School Boards, Special Education, De-velopment and Promotion of Facilities for Scientific and Technological Education, Re-search and Innovation, and Promotion of Scientific Exhibitions.

Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed to the Senate by the Leader of the Opposition the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie on the 21st of May 2007. At the 2009 National PLP Convention Mr. Fitzgerald vied for the Deputy Leader-ship position of the Party.

He received his early education at Queen’s College Primary School, graduating from St. Andrew’s School in New Providence. He received his tertiary education at Essex University of London and the University Business School, London, where he studied law, graduating with an LL.B, LL.M, and MSc. He has achieved additional profes-sional certifications, including the Certifi-cate of Proficiency, The Chartered Insur-ance Institute London England, Licensed ‘Life and Other than Life’ Insurance Sales-man, Bahamas.

Mr. Fitzgerald has served in many civic and corporate organisations. He is a member of the Boulle and Young Presidents Organiza-tion.

Prior to being appointed to the Cabinet, Mr. Fitzgerald was the managing partner of Chancery Law Associates and his other work experience included positions at Global Custom Brokers and Trucking, Elliot B. Lockhart & Co., Higgs & Johnson, RND Cinemas/RND Holdings and Chancery Law Associates.

SENATOR JEROME K. FITZGERALD

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, MARATHON CONSTITUENCY

MINISTER, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Christie Administration - The Evolution of Bahamian Democracy

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