New Bahamas prime minister sworn in

Hubert Minnis has been sworn in as the Prime Minister of The Bahamas at a ceremony last night.

It follows his landslide victory in Wednesday's election, which saw his Free National Movement (FNM) party claim 35 seats to oust the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

The PLP, led by now former Prime Minister Perry Christie, only managed to pick up five seats.

In what has been described by some as "the worst defeat of a ruling party in the country's modern political history", Christie lost his Centreville seat – a constituency he has represented since 1977.

WIC News reported yesterday that Christie called Minnis to concede defeat, saying "I understand as perhaps few others the challenges that await Minnis, and I wish him only success on behalf of our nation. He has my full support for a smooth transition."

Christie added that “it has been an honour and a privilege to serve as the prime minister of this great nation.

The veteran politician, who is 73 years old, is expected to retire from politics.

Minnis told hundreds of supporters that those who voted for a party other than the FNM “have nothing to fear”, adding that “our founding fathers did not believe in victimisation and neither do we. We will not deny any Bahamian access to opportunity based on partisan politics.”

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See more:

Landslide election win for opposition in The Bahamas

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In the run-up to the general election, Minnis campaigned on a platform of political reform and promised to implement term limits on the prime minister and promote 'Bahamian ownership in the economy'.

Although Christie's Administration was rocked by a series of scandals, he sought to assure Bahamians that the best was yet to come.

The general election was overseen by international and regional observers, including the Organisation of American States (OAS), the 15-member Caribbean Community, and the Commonwealth Secretariat.