The recent Golden Isles by-election has cast a spotlight on the Coalition of Independents (COI), revealing its inability to emerge as a viable national alternative to the dominant Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Free National Movement (FNM). Despite widespread public discontent with the two major parties, the COI’s performance in the by-election demonstrated minimal electoral progress, securing only 348 votes, or 8.99 percent of the total ballots cast. This result mirrors the party’s 2021 General Election performance, where it garnered approximately 6 percent of the vote, highlighting its stagnant growth in voter support. Established in 2020 as a response to decades of PLP–FNM dominance, the COI initially promised to disrupt the political landscape. Over the years, it has expanded its organizational structure, ratified numerous candidates, and even gained its first sitting Member of Parliament earlier this year. However, the Golden Isles outcome underscores that these efforts have not translated into widespread voter acceptance. The constituency remained a two-party contest, with COI support concentrated in a few polling divisions—14.23 percent in Division 4 and 15.46 percent in Division 6B—while remaining significantly lower elsewhere. This pattern of isolated enthusiasm without sustained momentum suggests that the COI has yet to pose a credible challenge to the established political order. As of press time, The Tribune was unable to obtain comments from COI officials.
Golden Isles vote exposes COI’s ‘political ceiling’ as third party fails to advance
