Bahamian Politics Remembering BlackTuesday
By Progressive Liberal Party
Apr 27, 2010 - 2:27:03 PM
Statement from the Progressive Liberal Party
On The Anniversary of Black Tuesday
26th April 2010
Tuesday 27th 1965 was a special day in the history of our Party
and our country. It was the day that the late Sir Lynden Pindling, the
then Leader of the Opposition and later Prime Minister threw the
Speaker's mace from the east window of the House of Assembly to protest
the gerrymandering boundaries by the then governing United Bahamian
Party. The day is known in history as Black Tuesday. Tuesday 27th
2010 is the 45th anniversary of Black Tuesday. The demonstration
appeared to be spontaneous at the time but it was not. Throwing the
mace out of the window was a carefully orchestrated plan by the PLP's
leaders at the time to demonstrate their position on the right to a
fair and equal distribution of boundaries.
The election of 10th January 1967 was fought on the boundaries set
in 1965. The PLP demonstrated against the backdrop of their loss in
1962 to the UBP which came about because the number of seats in the
then called Out Islands exceeded the number of seats in New Providence
where the majority of the population lived. That resulted in the PLP
winning the popular vote in 1962 but losing the general election
because they lost the seat count. The PLP determined that with the
new Constitution of the country in place, the boundaries had to be
fairly drawn.
The Mace as later repaired by the government from funds raised by
the public. No prosecutions ensued from the event. But the event
catapulted the then Leader of the Opposition Lynden Pindling into
greater national prominence as a man of courage and foresight. The
late Sir Milo Butler Sr. threw the Speaker's hour glass out of window
as a protest against the limitation of speaking time in the House.
The PLP remembers the day and pays tribute to the national heroes
and heroines who joined the party in the public square such as the late
Ena Hepburn and the now Mrs. Effie Walkes on that day 27th April 1965.
Also there were retired Governor General Arthur Hanna and now Governor
General Sir Arthur Foulkes.