YEAR IN REVIEW – Mace Thrown Out House of Assembly’s Window, Top Cop Resigns

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Parliament was punctuated by chaotic proceedings on December 4th; it was the day the mace was thrown out of the 2nd floor window of the House of Assembly.

It was also the day nation would learn of the resignation of the country’s top cop and it was all sparked days after a U.S. indictment that lit a fuse and led to an explosion of protests. 

The moment the House of Assembly erupted into chaos on December 4th was after St. Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright grabbed the mace, which is the symbol of the speaker’s authority and tossed it out a window, in an act similar to Black Tuesday nearly 60 years ago.

It left many of his fellow MP’s stunned and the deputy speaker and the sergeant at arms injured. 

It came after Opposition Leader Michael Pintard was not allowed to speak sparking a back-and-forth with House Speaker Patricia Deveaux.

As chaos erupted inside the HOA, dozens of Free National Movement supporters protested after Opposition Leader Michael Pintard was not allowed to speak a week earlier on a recent indictment filed in the United States that alleged corruption in the police and defense forces.

OutsIde parliament, Cartwright defended his actions.

As it relates to that indictment, it was another blow to the RBPF which has been plagued with controversy.

In July, officer in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department, Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson, was placed on garden leave following the release of voice notes allegedly between a senior police official and a now-deceased gang member, who was wanted by police.

It all proved too much for then-police commissioner Clayton Fernander to overcome. His resignation was announced by the Prime Minister Philip Davis that very same day. 

Hours later in a national address that evening Davis announced a woman was chosen to lead the RBPF for the first time in it’s nearly 200-year history.