Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, KCMG, OM, JP (22 March 1930 - 26 August 2000) served as the first black Premier of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, 1967-1973 and as Prime Minister of the Bahamas, 1973-1992, as leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). He was also a Privy Councilor and knighted by the Queen in 1983. On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ... A Justice of the Peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The accuracy of this list is disputed, since it was based on worldstatesmen. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The Progressive Liberal Party is a populist and liberal party, now the ruling party of the Bahamas. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A lawyer by profession, he obtained a law degree from the University of London (1952). In 1953 he was both a Barrister of the Middle Temple and an attorney of the Bahamas. Called the 'Black Moses', his later years were marked by controversy and accusations of corruption and involvement in drug trafficking. The University of London is a university based primarily in London. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Part of Middle Temple c. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ...

He was the longest elected leader in the Western Hemisphere in 1992 when the PLP lost its first election in 25 years. Pindling conceded defeat with the words "the people of this great little democracy have spoken in a most dignified and eloquent manner, and 'the voice of the people, is the voice of God". The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Birth and education

Lynden Pindling was born on 22 March 1930 to Arnold and Viola Pindling in his grandfather's home in Mason's Addition, Nassau, Bahamas. Pindling grew up in East Street in Nassau. Map of the Bahamas Nassau is the capital city of the Bahamas. ...

Pindling attended Government High School (GHS), in downtown Nassau from 1943-1946. After completing high school, Pindling took a job as a junior clerk in the Post Office Savings Bank. He was 16. Pindling worked at the bank until 1948 when he traveled to London to study law. Pindling received a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from King's College, University of London in 1952. Pindling was called to the English bar at the Middle Temple in February 1953 and the Bahamas Bar in June 1953. Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries. ... Kings College London is the largest college of the University of London and one of a number of university institutions founded in England in the early 19th century. ... The University of London is a university based primarily in London. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Part of Middle Temple c. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

At his call to the Bahamas Bar, Pindling dedicated himself to the service of the Bahamas and the Bahamian people 'within and without the realm of pure law', demonstrating his eloquence but also revealing his political agenda.

Political career

By the end of 1953, Pindling joined the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) as its legal advisor and later became Treasurer of the Party in 1954 and Chairman in 1963. The Progressive Liberal Party is a populist and liberal party, now the ruling party of the Bahamas. ... In many governments, a treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ...

On 5 May 1956, Pindling married Marguerite McKenzie (of Long Bay Cays in southern Andros) at St Ann's Parish in Fox Hill Road in Nassau. The following month, Pindling successfully contested Nassau's Southern District constituency in the 1956 General Election. May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Andros Island is the largest island of the Bahamas at roughly 2300 square miles (6,000 km²) in area and 104 miles (167 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide at its widest point. ...

The PLP party chairman, Henry Taylor, was defeated in the 1956 General Election. His defeat resulted in Pindling's election as the party's parliamentary leader over the dynamic and popular labour leader Randol Fawkes. Pindling led the PLP from 1956 until his retirement in 1997. He led the PLP to election victories in 1967, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1982 and 1987 and was elected to the House of Assembly on ten consecutive occasions. Sir Henry Milton Taylor Kt (4 November 1903-14 February 1994) was born on Long Island, Bahamas. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 27 April 1965 (a day known in Bahamian history as "Black Tuesday") Pindling delivered a speech in the House of Assembly accusing the government of the day of gerrymandering. In a calculated move to drum up popular support and shock the establishment, he took the Speaker's Mace and threw it out of a window onto the streets (where PLP supporters had gathered) exclaiming, "[t]his is the symbol of authority, and authority in this island belongs to the people... Yes, the people are outside, and the mace belongs outside, too!" April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Gerrymandering is a controversial form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

Thus, on January 10th 1967, the Progressive Liberal Party led by Lynden Pindling obtained eighteen seats in the General Election -- while the United Bahamian Party (led by Sir Roland Symonette) also obtained 18 seats. Sir Randol F. Fawkes (being the lone Independent Labour MP) voted to sit with the Progressive Liberal Party, enabling them to form a government. The other Independent, Sir Alvin Braynen accepted the position of Speaker in order to maintain his neutrality. Pindling thus led the Bahamas to black majority rule in 1967, becoming the Bahamas' first black Prime Minister. The nation had previously been governed by an oligarchy of white merchants known as ' The Bay Street Boys' who had supressed the Black Majority under a system of segregation that has been compared to the southern United States and South Africa. Pindling led the Bahamas to independence from Britain on 10 July 1973 and is considered the architect of the modern Bahamas, through initiatives such as basic social security, and housing projects as well as negotiating major tourist developments. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Pindling was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1983. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Accusations of corruption

In 1982, a report entitled "The Bahamas: A Nation For Sale" by investigative television journalist Brian Ross was aired on NBC in the United States. The report claimed Pindling and his government accepted bribes from Colombian drug smugglers, particularly the notorious Carlos Lehder, co-founder of the Medellín Cartel, in exchange for allowing the smugglers to use The Bahamas as a transhipment point to smuggle Colombian cocaine into the US. Through murder and extortion, Lehder had gained complete control over the Norman's Cay in the Exumas, which became the chief base for smuggling cocaine into the United States. Brian Ross is a racer in the ARCA circuit. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Medellín Cartel was a well-organized network of drug smugglers originating in the city of Medellín in Colombia and operating through the 1970s and 1980s. ... Normans Cay is a small island in the Bahamas--210 miles off the Florida coast. ...

Pindling vigorously denied the claims made in the NBC report, and made a testy appearance on NBC to rebut them. However, the public outcry in The Bahamas over the report led to the creation in 1984 of a Commission of Enquiry to look into the matter. Pindling briefly retained the famous trial lawyer F. Lee Bailey to represent him before the Commission. In the Commission's final report, several members of Pindling's cabinet were severely criticized but none were ever actually charged with crimes as a result. Of Pindling, the Commission's report stated that in the years leading up to the Commission, he had spent sums vastly in excess of his income without incurring any debt or providing any satisfactory explanation of where the extra money had come from. However, the Commissioners failed to find any evidence that Pindling had taken bribes, and did not recommend that he be charged with any crime.

It is an indication of the level of Pindling's popularity in The Bahamas at the time that, despite the scandalous claims made against him in the US media, he never felt the need to resign his office or call an early election to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate. Even with the commission's report fresh in voters' minds, he led his party to another election victory in 1987.

However, in the 1992 General Election, the Free National Movement (FNM) beat the PLP and Pindling also lost his electoral seat, after serious allegations of nepotistic abuse of the state-owned companies and involvement in drug-trafficking. Nevertheless, a nationwide personality cult still reveres him as "the Father of the Nation." The Free National Movement is a political party in the Bahamas. ...

Legacy

Pindling retired from active politics and leadership of the PLP in July 1997 and was succeeded by Perry Christie. Three years later, on 25 August 2000, Pindling passed away after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. He was laid to rest on 4 September 2000. Pindling continues to be revered by many as the most dominant figure in Bahamian politics. In 2006, Nassau International Airport was renamed in his honour. Perry Gladstone Christie (born August 21, 1944) is the third and current Prime Minister of the Bahamas and a former athlete. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nassau International Airport (IATA: NAS, ICAO: MYNN) is the largest airport in the Bahamas, and the largest international gateway into the country. ...

External links

• http://www.myplp.com/people_pindling.lasso
• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0875116.html
• http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/smuggling/index.html?query=BAHAMA%20ISLANDS&field=geo&match=exact
• http://lyndenpindling.quickseek.com/
• Obituary, The Guardian Newspaper (London)