Head of state and head of government are two different positions. A theoretical president would just occupy the same role as the governor general, and most likely be appointed by the PM as well.

I highly doubt that the Bahamas will ever move away from FPTP for electing governments; there is no viable third party to justify shifting to MMP or PR, neither federalization to switch to an American type of system.

Agreed 100%. I appreciate the work that NGOs do, but I can't just wave off 2 million as an "accounting error". This is not 2 thousand dollars, or even 2 hundred thousand, this is a whole 2 million that we are supposed to believe was transferred out of pure accident. Smells like BS to be honest.

I don't trust either side in this story. Both parties are composed of nothing but pirates looking for ways to line their pockets.

None of these government tools understand the root of this issue. The smallest unit of society is the family, what we see today is the results of having the Bahamian family unit completely destroyed. The misguided gender advocates and asinine neo-liberals can kvetch all they want, but two parent homes produce much better life outcomes statistically speaking than the the absent single parent ones that plague our society today.

The only way to correct this in the long term is to massively shift our culture and model our society around the family unit again. Until then, enjoy triple digit murder counts every year.

Nevermind, I misread your comment. I thought you were advocating that we would economically collapse immediately after becoming a republic. My mind skipped over the "still" in your post. Apologies.

Yes, nothing will change at all.

Let me know when any one of these advocates stops speaking the English language. I might take their gripes a bit more seriously then.

I don't agree with the assertion that our nation will collapse economically from shifting to a republican form of government, nothing significant will change other than a President replacing the Queen as head of state (Plus we are in inescapable debt as it stands already. We are going to economically collapse regardless of whether we alter the governing system or not. Can't have 55 years of deficit spending while borrowing to keep the lights on and not pay the toll). What I find baffling is the notion that we should become a republic to separate from our colonial heritage while we all speak the English language and our politicians all line up to have British honours next to their name. There is absolutely no non-emotional argument in favour of becoming a republic, we do not gain a single benefit by doing so. Why do we need to piss away millions of tax dollars on holding a referendum, changing legislation, electing a President, etc. for absolutely no benefit at all?

Sadly, most people think with their emotions instead of looking at an issue logically.

The past two years have shown that our Constitution is a meaningless piece of paper in the eyes of the FNM and PLP, so I'm not surprised that either of them would try and trample over it further. Might as well do like Fred Mitchell and just burn it at this point.

What was the turnout of the most recent election? Claiming that as a mandate to govern is like claiming the PLP was elected with popular acclaim this past September (they weren't).

Haha. "Reparations" already came 55 years ago. Pindling came to power and received control over a country that a.) had a booming economy b.) was not in debt, and was consistently running budget surpluses c.) had roads, airports, ports, and other infrastructure worth millions and d.) was not a crime ridden craphole like it is today, all while doing absolutely nothing to build it. Fast forward 55 years and here we have a.) a government that is a few years out from fiscal insolvency b.) the second pillar of offshore banking completely destroyed c.) a crime rate out of the wazoo and d.) completely dilapidated third world infrastructure in the non expat parts of the country. The black Bahamians have already received billions in reparations and have nothing to show for it.

I don't get why black Bahamians crying over this topic don't harass the Arabs the same way that they do white people. Oh wait, most don't even know that the Arabs took them as slaves because the Arabs were smart enough to castrate the ones they did have. I also find it hilarious how so many have this cry for "reparations" while flocking to "massa's" countries to try and build a life. I can fly to London right now and will not bump into a single white person in the streets once out of Heathrow. Same with Paris. Same with the GTA. Funny how "massa's" countries are being invaded by the same people crying for "reparations". What is also hilarious is how so many of the same ones crying for "reparations" are the same ones that can't wait to take on "massa's" titles. Funny how they all line up to receive titles such as MBE, OBE, and the rest. Guess that the British Empire was evil only when we need a handout to keep our failing government afloat, right?

Just reflective of our society at large. Not just downtown either, pretty much any area in New Providence not called Cable Beach, Lyford Cay, or Paradise Island looks like this (or worse).