Welcome to The Bahamas

christieRt Hon. Perry Christie
Prime Minister of The Bahamas

It is with pride and pleasure that I welcome the introduction of The Bahamas section on the Commonwealth of Nations website, the electronic addendum to the member country information in the Commonwealth Yearbook, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s flagship publication.

Since its founding, the Commonwealth has lived up to its Declaration of Principles, that of being a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, each responsible for its own policies, consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace.

The Bahamas has and continues to play its part in the affairs of the Commonwealth and remains committed to the principles of the organization. Indeed, The Bahamas was privileged to play a pivotal role in the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa by extending the economic sanctions against the white minority government at the 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Nassau.

In fact, our former Prime Minister, the late Sir Lynden Pindling, was appointed Chairman of a group of Commonwealth Heads of Government to review the progress of the sanctions that eventually led to freeing from prison of Nelson Mandela and the peaceful transition to majority rule in South Africa.

The Commonwealth, which makes up about one quarter of the world’s population, continues to be a force for good in international affairs, assisting member nations in the monitoring of elections and the peaceful transfer of power, providing technical assistance, and helping to address social, political and economic challenges of the peoples of the world.

I am therefore delighted to invite the millions of Commonwealth viewers, and millions more residing outside of the Commonwealth, to visit www.commonwealth-of-nations.org to find out more about The Bahamas, one of the smallest but also one of the most stable democracies in the Commonwealth of Nations.

The above message was provided by the previous Prime Minister, Hubert Alexander Ingraham.

Source: http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/country/americas/bahamas_the/