BDM History

Party Formation

The Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) is a dynamic political party in the Bahamas that has emerge as a dominant force in Bahamian politics. The party was formed in late 1998 in Nassau, Bahamas and was officially launched in February 2000. The party's founders included: Cassius Stuart, Howard R. Johnson and a number of then-students of the College of The Bahamas. The party was formed due to a strongly held belief that Caribbean governments generally, and successive Bahamian governments lacks vision, accountability and integrity. The BDM’s insist The Bahamas is in dire need of new leadership and that new leadership can only come from the new generation of Bahamians.  The current Leader of the BDM is Mr. Cassius Stuart. Mr. Omar Smith serves as Deputy Leader of the party.

The Mace Incident

On Monday, December 3, 2001, Stuart and Smith dominated the national news when they intentionally disrupted the Sitting of the House of Assembly. Both men charged from the Public Gallery onto the House floor and handcuffed themselves to the Mace (symbol of the House Speaker's authority) in protest against the "unfair gerrymandering of the constituency boundaries by the FNM Administration". The Mace was unable to be separated from the men and thus, the Sitting had to be suspended. The pair was jailed for almost 2 days but no charges were brought against them. Ironically, the BDM's Mace Incident was strikingly similar to an event of important political significance in Bahamian history known as Black Tuesday. On that particular day, April 15, 1965, then-Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Sir Lynden Pindling threw the Mace out of the House of Assembly window in protest against the unfair gerrymandering of constituency boundaries of the then United Bahamian Party (UBP) government.

2002 General Elections

The BDM contested 12 of the 40 Parliamentary seats in the General Elections of 2002 winning no seats and less than 1% of the total votes cast. Despite its dismal performance at the polls, the BDM enjoys widespread admiration as well as criticism from the Bahamian public. Their support comes from a wide spectrum of the society. Critics of the BDM allege that Stuart and Smith often engage in radical political action to 'grandstand' and ultimately preclude the organization from fading into obscurity.

Prime Minister Blocked From Entering Parliament

On March 24, 2005, Stuart and Smith again dominated the national news when they briefly prevented Prime Minister Perry Christie from accessing the House of Assembly. It was a dramatic end to a protest taking place in the immediate vicinity of the Parliament against the government’s move to bring a resolution to Parliament giving a government Member of Parliament more time to appeal a bankruptcy order against him. The BDM claimed that the government would be abusing its constitutional authority in passing the resolution. This argument found its premise on a requirement of the Constitution of The Bahamas that any Member of Parliament who is declared bankrupt by the Courts must vacate his or her seat in the Parliament. Stuart and Smith were again arrested in the wake of the incident but the pair has yet to be charged before the Bahamian courts.