The Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) is a liberal-populist political party in the Bahamas representing the interests of young people. Party formation of Bahamas Democratic Movement The party was formed in late 1998 in Nassau, Bahamas and was officially launched in February 2000. The party's founders included: Cassius Stuart, Howard R. Johnson, Dario Roberts, George Carey and a number of then-students of the College of the Bahamas. The party was formed due to a shared belief held by the founding group that many Caribbean governments, specifically successive Bahamian governments, failed to incorporate young persons (under the age of 30) in the decision-making processes of government at any level. This particular view stemmed from the fact that, at the time, over 60% of the country's population was under the age of 30 years. Stuart and his followers believed that it was incumbent upon the government to have young persons play a more significant role in the governance of the country as opposed to merely "using them for their votes" in the period leading up to general elections. Immediately following victory at the polls, however, Stuart and his followers contended that young persons were given no official governmental roles with any real political power. The current leader of the BDM is Cassius Stuart. Omar Smith serves as Deputy Leader of the party. Party split Within a year of the party's formation, Johnson, Carey, Roberts and others left the BDM, citing methodological differences with Stuart as the primary reason for their departure. Soon after their departure, Johnson, Carey, Roberts and others joined the Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR), a different party. The Mace incident On 3 December 2001, Stuart and Smith dominated the national news when they intentionally disrupted the Sitting of the House of Assembly. Both men charged from the Public Gallery onto the House floor and handcuffed themselves to the Macea symbol of the House Speaker's authorityin protest against the "unfair gerrymandering of the constituency boundaries by the FNM Administration". The Mace was unable to be separated from the men and, thus, the Sitting had to be suspended. The pair were jailed for almost two days but no charges were brought against them. Ironically, the BDM's Mace Incident was strikingly similar to an event of important political significance in Bahamian history known as Black Tuesday. On that particular day, 15 April 1965, then-Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling threw