I want to be hopeful but I have to see it to believe it. Einstein said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. We prosecute almost no civil servant for stealing/ corruption even when in possession of the most damning evidence and then we wonder why our government and civil service has been riddled with dishonesty and corruption since independence. Even when in the rare instance someone is prosecuted and convicted they are given a slap on the wrist. Case in point The bribe taker Fred Ramsey, convicted on 12 counts of bribery of several hundred thousand dollars and the judgement: no jail time, simply payback the amount of the bribe, and a $14,000 fine. What is that? This man should be in fox hill prison. Until we prosecute and incarcerate nothing will change. Start with the auditor general report of the 47 million missing from road traffic, charges need to be brought. We are watching FNM and we demand change and accountability.

I too felt patty roker had a very, very bad night. Not that she was biased for any particular party, simply that she had almost nothing insightful to say beyond pointing out ad nauseum that turnout was lower than expected. She seemed afraid to say anything remotely controversial. Also I wish they would report the results in a timely manner, Darold Miller kept repeating all the candidates names, even their middle ones over and over and over and over and over, each time mentioning finge candidates who never garner one vote. Meanwhile unreported results were streaming in.

Otherwise I felt Miller was spot on in criticizing the ex P.M. For his failure to personally concede. It was embarrassing and an insult to the electorate. Here too Roker fell flat on her face as she felt it was just fine. Again she was too frightened to state the obvious. Some advice, get a monitor that the commentators can read from without squinting, drop patty roker, and try to report the results in a more coherent and timely fashion.

I too am hopeful but the FNM govt has a tightrope to walk in terms of getting our fiscal house in order. On the one hand spending has to be constrained but not too much as govt spending is a huge economic stimulus and cutting back too quickly could do even more harm to the economy. At the least we need a balanced budget as soon as possible. The real key is GROWTH, if we can grow our GDP for the first time in 4 years then the debt becomes manageable and the tax base will increase.

How do we get growth is the million dollar question. It starts with reducing bureaucracy and red tape, it is simply too difficult to do business in the Bahamas, our worker productivity needs to increase substantially, unions reined in and civil servants reduced, the tax system needs to be tweaked with maybe an increase in an efficient tax like vat and a reduction in customs duties and other taxes, and most importantly increase Foreign direct investment by eliminating corruption that was so apparent in the PLP govt.

We are facing a very dire fiscal deficit and this calls for drastic measures. Now is the time to do it! Programs need to be cancelled, urban renewal- cancelled, carnival- cancelled. bec, bob, Bahamasair all privatized. And as hard as it is to say it the civil service needs to be reduced. All over Long Island in govt offices you see persons hired in the last three weeks, just sitting there doing nothing. i feel for them, they want a job but we can not afford it. It is better to take the pain now, than to continually kick the can down the road. Otherwise in 5 years with devaluation the pain will be enormous and there will be massive lay offs of civil servants dictated to us by the IMF. So DPM level with the Bahamian people we can not support the level of govt. we currently have, the credit card is maxed out and you need to be ruthless in reducing expenditure.

You are so right. My respect for Prime minister Pinding grew tremendously when he conceded on national radio to the nation after 25 consecutive years of power. It had to be one of the most difficult things he ever did, but he did it out of his respect for the Bahamian people. Christie on the other hand has disrespected us. He has shown us that it is all about him, a short concession speech would have been good for the country and our democracy. It will be a stain on his career forever, and shows that the nation was correct in voting him and almost his entire party out of office.

Wikielections has updated and the count has reverted to 35-4, so apparently Hanna- Martin did retain her seat.

I wonder if any of these persons, especially "banker" has ever had any significant interaction with John Rolle to be passing such judgement about him. And the asinine comment that he is not qualified to be a junior minister lends credence to my growing suspicion that they know very little about him much less about finance acumen.

I worked with john Rolle and as a earlier commentator said, he is brilliant. Far above anyone else in our department, including at that time Wendy Craig who was our superior. We are very fortunate to have him as governor, he could be earning three times his salary in the private sector.

As to his competence, he was a chief architect of the vat tax, and the person most responsible for its very successful rollout. By any measure it has been a succes, one that many myself included doubted could be pulled off. BOB is in court now because of the pressure he is applying. Should it have come sooner, no doubt, but one has to survive in their job without political interference to make a real difference. Better to have a competent gov who is trying than a stupid lackey. I only pray he is allowed with the new administration to make meaningful, independent decisions.

Party Seats Won
fnm 36
plp 3 *
dna 0
ind 0
*Recount of Englerston constituency resulted in new result with former PLP Transport Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin, lose to FNM candidate Raymond Rolle

Not sure if accurate but according to wiki elections Hanna- Martin lost her seat after recount
http://wikielections.com/africa/bahamas…

In two weeks, after the FNM govt has seen the books and have a good understanding of the lay of our fiscal land, there will be the need for a frank and sobering conversation with the Bahamian people. We simply can not afford the size of our govt and the services successive govts. have promised to provide.

Our budget must be balanced in at most 3 years. This will perhaps necessitate an increase in taxes but definitely a significant reduction in expenditures. The civil service needs to be downsized, and all govt corps that are currently loss making need to be privatized as soon as possible. It will be painful but it is needed, we can not continue to live beyond our means simply borrowing year after year leading to a massive deficit. We are at a watershed moment, but if after 5 years there is not a meaningful reduction in our debt this FNM govt will unquestionably be voted out.

We need to make the necessary sacrifices and changes ourselves before they are forced upon us. Failure to be fiscally responsible now, in short order will lead to devaluation, and the imposition of onerous demands on us by the IMF such as a massive reduction in the size of the civil service. Barbados recently underwent just this painful exercise, we should learn from their mistakes.

I agree wholeheartedly with your points, no more bloated cabinets that we can not afford, this civil service needs to be reduced, as many loss making govt corps privatized, and I might add Zns budget cut at least in half. No need for a redundant northern service. We need govt as small as possible while still providing the necessary services we require. We are broke as country, no more living beyond our means, no more paying for essential services with a credit card. Minnis also must produce a balance budget within 3 years, and pass legislation binding our govt to a balanced budget until our deficit is reduced to at least 50 % of GDP.