our history

Those of us who were serving in the Legislature during the electoral period 1972-1976 were frustrated in our efforts to bring about meaningful changes on behalf of the electorate, and had fought vigorously for substantial changes in the Constitution. After extensive negotiations with the British Government it became apparent that the country would get a new Constitution that would usher in ministerial government. We felt that the voters has a right to know who their government would be and the best way to do that was through a political organization where the electorate would know the candidates of that party.  

The Members serving at that time were: Hon NJS Francis, Headley Durham, AV Butterfield, Charles Missick, Alexander Smith, Hilly Ewing, Clarence Jolly, CW Maguire and Norman Saunders. Hon Clarence Jolly had by that time returned to the Bahamas and had little to do with the Legislature, and it was certain that he was not seeking re-election. Hon Maguire was a strong supporter for the constitutional change but was not courted as a member of the new party to be formed.  

At the outset the party was a fairly loose organization comprising the sitting Members and strong party supporters. The sitting Members who formed the organization were: Hon NJS Francis, AV Butterfield, Charles Missick, Alexander Smith, Headley Durham, Hilly Ewing and Norman B Saunders. Mr. Daniel Malcolm joined the group as the candidate for the Middle Caicos Constituency in the up-coming general elections.  At our initial meeting it was agreed that we would contest the up-coming election under the name of The Progressive National Organization (“PNO”). Most of the early meetings were held in Grand Turk and strong party supporters attended. Those who participated at meetings and gave their strong support were: Mr. Astion Simons, Evan (Storm) Missick, Oliver Tatem, AL Adams, Alex Forbes, Johnny Wilson, Bertram Glinton, Daniel Clare, Austry Forbes, Johnny Missick, and Colin Tatem. There were many other very strong supporters who worked arduously on the outside, and prominent among these were the Penn family of Grand Turk, Madelyn Wynns (Potter) and her mother and a host of others. I believe 95% of the voters of South Caicos supported the PNO at that time, and it is fair to include the Ewing family of Provo.  

We were hesitant to elect a leader and many of the candidates felt that we could wait until after the general election to do so. However, the public increasingly demanded that we select a leader and it was decided to do so at a special meeting called at the Evans Inn in Grand Turk. It was always felt that the leadership would fall to either NJS Francis or myself, and it turned out that we were the only two names put forward at nomination. I don’t remember the details immediately following the nomination, but Mr. Francis somewhat suddenly made a very strange decision. He announced that he had seen me perform in the House and out of the House, and he felt that I had everything to make an able leader of the party, and he was withdrawing his nomination. At that point everyone seemed relieved and united around me as the leader of the party.  

All our efforts were then directed to the up-coming general election. Contesting the four seats in Grand Turk for the PNO were: NJS Francis, Headley Durham, Hugh DaCosta and Alexander Smith. For South Caicos if was Edward Hanchell and myself. For Middle Caicos it was Daniel Malcolm, for Bottle Creek it was Charles Missick, for Kew it was AV Butterfield and for Provo, it was Hilly Ewing. For Salt Cay it was Oliver Tatem. Both Mr. Oliver Tatem and Alexander Smith came in very late. We had great difficulty finding a candidate for Salt Cay and it was not until nomination day that we persuaded Mr. Oliver Tatem to be our candidate. North Back Salina was also a troublesome area. We had agreed that not only was it going to be difficult to field a candidate who would offer a challenge to Mr. McCartney but it was also a hostile area in which to work. Father Jones came to me one day and said: “Norman, I know you don’t expect to win north Back Salina, and I hear you are thinking about not fielding a candidate. I reported Father Jones’ statement to my colleagues at our next meeting, and Mr. Alexander Smith decided to take up the challenge.  

The ’76 election ended with no party winning a clear majority. The PDM came out of the election with 5 seats, the PNP had 4 seats and there were 2 independents. 6 seats were needed to form the government. As can be imagined, the two independents Liam Maguire and Dan Williams became very important members. Very early on the morning after the election the PNO members and supporters met in South Caicos to plan the way forward. We agreed that I should meet with Liam Maguire and Dan Williams to get their support to enable us to form the government, but as a matter of principle we would not offer Mr. Maguire a ministry. I might add that I was proud of the party for taking that decision. The PDM formed the government with Hon Liam Maguire and Hon Danny Williams, giving them 7 seats, and we formed the Opposition with myself as Leader, along with Hon NJS Francis, Hon AV Butterfield and Hon Daniel Malcolm.  

The ensuing four years were very interesting, politically. We spent the time properly organizing the Party throughout the Islands and dealing forcibly with all the issues facing the country, both in the House and outside. We changed the name from the Progressive National Organization to the Progressive National Party (“PNP”). I have no doubt that by 1978 the voters in all the Islands were ready for a change. That change came at the 1980 general elections when we succeeded with a landslide victory.  

Contributed by Hon Norman B Saunders Snr.