Upper & Lower Houses of Parliament headed by Bahamian Women

#TheBahamas, October 13, 2021 –Women Parliamentarians have taken centre stage in the Bahamas, with females now leading both the Senate, and the House, an historic occasion, since they were granted the right to vote in 1962, via a court order.

At Wednesday’s (October 6) opening of the new Parliament, following last month’s General Elections, Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town, Patricia Deveaux was elected as Speaker of the House of Assembly, while J. LaShell Adderley was appointed as President of the Senate.

Deveaux who became the 55th speaker of the House, and the second woman to preside over the country’s legislative affairs, assured that she will lead the Parliamentary proceedings with fairness because “I wish to assure you, that I will take my task very seriously,” she said.

She also called for the business of Parliament to start on time, and for members to be courteous in their deliberations, declaring that disrespect toward the chair will not be tolerated.

The Opening of Parliament took place at Baha Mar Resort on Cable Beach, where temporary House of Assembly and Senate chambers were set up.

The Senate President, Adderley said she is now part of pace setting of progressive   women from the suffragette movement, including Dame Doris Johnson, the first female Senate President.

In noting the significance of the moment, the President underscored that it is the first time in the history of “our Commonwealth that two women have sat simultaneously as Speaker of the House and President of the Senate,” she said.

Member of Parliament, Glenys Hanna-Martin who moved the motion for Deveaux to become Speaker, said with women making up more than half or the population, it is “vital” for their voices to be heard in “this House. This is a new day,” she said.

Seconding the nomination, MP JoBeth Coleby-Davis, who is an energy sector attorney at law, and is also one of five women to be appointed to Cabinet, as well as a former Senator, and one of seven women elected to the House, said the member was prepared and “capable of leading this body.”

Adding that the women have entered the political process, committed to serve with “pride, transparency, accountability, with the understanding that it is about the people we represent in our various constituencies and our country,” she said.