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  • Fiscal discipline without growth leaving Jamaicans behind, says Hylton

    Fiscal discipline without growth leaving Jamaicans behind, says Hylton

    During Tuesday’s Sectoral Debate on the 2026/27 national budget in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Opposition trade, industry and global logistics spokesperson Anthony Hylland launched a pointed critique of the country’s decade-long economic trajectory, arguing that years of strict fiscal discipline have failed to deliver the structural transformation ordinary Jamaicans desperately need – a gap that hits low-income households the hardest.

    Drawing on the core lesson of the popular business fable *Who Moved My Cheese?*, Hylton pressed the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration for clear action. “As we continue this Sectoral Debate on the 2026/27 Budget, I ask this Government a very simple question: You clearly see that the cheese has moved, so where is the strategy to find it?” he said.

    In a measured assessment, Hylton did not dismiss the progress the country has made on macroeconomic stability over the past ten years. He acknowledged that substantial fiscal consolidation has delivered tangible results: debt-to-GDP ratios have fallen consistently, primary budget surpluses have been maintained, inflation control has improved, and the hard-won macroeconomic stability is a real achievement. “Both administrations deserve measured credit for maintaining that discipline because the sacrifices required to achieve it were significant and felt by the Jamaican people,” Hylton noted.

    But he pushed back against framing stability as an end goal in itself. “Stability is not development. Stability is simply the foundation upon which development must be built. A stable foundation only matters if something transformative is eventually constructed upon it,” he added.

    After a full decade of JLP leadership, Hylton argued, the deep structural change Jamaica’s economy requires has yet to materialize, with evidence of stagnation visible across multiple key sectors. Manufacturing’s contribution to national GDP has seen no meaningful expansion, value-added exports remain stuck at low growth levels, and the country is still overly reliant on the same core economic pillars – tourism, bauxite and remittances – that supported the economy a generation ago.

    He also flagged growing risks to the once-promising business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which was long billed as a engine for middle-class job growth and opportunity. Hylton said the sector has now hit a plateau, and faces an existential threat from rapid automation and artificial intelligence advancement – a major risk that the 2026/27 budget barely acknowledges. The government’s flagship logistics hub project, he added, remains more of an unfulfilled vision than a fully implemented initiative. Even the country’s long-term development blueprint, Vision 2030, has struggled to meet its targets: now past its midpoint, key structural goals have been quietly deferred, delayed or scrapped entirely, according to Hylton.

    Turning directly to the new 2026/27 budget tabled by Finance Minister Fayval Williams, Hylton argued that the proposal is little more than a hurricane recovery package repackaged as a growth-focused budget. While the Opposition fully recognizes the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Melissa, which caused an estimated US$12.2 billion in damages – equal to nearly 57% of Jamaica’s total GDP – and destroyed countless lives and livelihoods, Hylton said the government has failed to outline any clear strategy for long-term transformative growth beyond emergency response.

    “The Jamaican people deserve more than crisis management, they deserve a coherent plan for growth and national advancement. And the pressures facing ordinary Jamaicans continue to intensify,” he told the chamber.

    Hylton highlighted the gap between the budget’s assumptions and on-the-ground realities for working people. When the budget was drafted, policymakers assumed oil prices would sit around US$60 per barrel, but current prices hover near US$100. That difference will not be absorbed by government ministers, he noted – it will be paid by the single mother filling up her gas tank, the small farmer running an irrigation pump, and the small domestic manufacturer seeing electricity costs eat into already thin profit margins.

    “These are the realities confronting Jamaicans every day; realities that cannot be solved by macroeconomic talking points alone,” Hylton said.

    The West St Andrew Member of Parliament concluded that the projected 1-2% GDP growth forecast in the wake of Hurricane Melissa is not evidence of transformation – it is merely survival. “Jamaica deserves more than endurance, it deserves direction. Discipline without direction ultimately becomes endurance without destination, and the Jamaican people have endured long enough without seeing the level of transformation their sacrifices were supposed to produce,” he said.

  • Lifting Cuba blockade ‘simpler’ way to help than aid, says president

    Lifting Cuba blockade ‘simpler’ way to help than aid, says president

    HAVANA, Cuba – In a pointed rebuke of Washington’s latest policy toward the Caribbean island, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel publicly called on the United States Thursday to abandon its decades-long economic blockade of Cuba, arguing that lifting the restrictive trade measures would address the country’s deepening hardship far more effectively than the conditional aid package recently proposed by US authorities.

  • ‘Rescue the JUTC’Phillips says State-run bus company in “most pathetic state” as losses mount

    ‘Rescue the JUTC’Phillips says State-run bus company in “most pathetic state” as losses mount

    Jamaica’s main opposition party has launched a scathing attack on the current administration, accusing it of allowing the nation’s flagship public transit provider, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), to fall into the worst crisis in its institutional history.

    Speaking during the ongoing sectoral debate in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, opposition transport spokesperson Mikael Phillips drew a stark medical metaphor to describe the state-owned bus operator’s decline, saying the JUTC has spent a full decade lingering in the “accident and emergency department” amid ballooning financial losses and sustained government policy neglect. He called the current situation the “most pathetic state” the agency has faced since its founding.

    Phillips pushed back against government claims of progress, pointing out that successive ruling party budgets have poured billions of dollars in public subsidies into the JUTC and greenlit the purchase of hundreds of new transit vehicles—yet the agency continues to drift deeper into systemic financial and operational failure. He derided the government’s half-hearted interventions, comparing them to “calling on a carpenter to examine a critical patient, when what is truly required is oxygen and a skilled physician to diagnose the ailment and prescribe the cure.”

    The opposition spokesperson laid out grim financial figures to back his criticism, noting that cumulative losses for the JUTC have topped $100 billion over the past 10 years. This fiscal year alone, the agency is projected to post a staggering $14.8 billion deficit, and remains operational only through an emergency $11 billion government grant that keeps it afloat month to month.

    Even with major capital investments in the fleet, Phillips argued, core performance metrics for the JUTC have failed to improve. He raised pointed questions about the agency’s soaring maintenance and fuel costs, particularly perplexing given that a large share of the updated fleet now runs on lower-cost compressed natural gas or electric power.

    Beyond financial mismanagement, Phillips also criticized the current administration’s decision to expand JUTC routes into rural parts of the island. That expansion, he argued, has sparked unnecessary and escalating friction between the state-owned transit giant and smaller private transport providers that already serve those communities.

    At its core, Phillips argued, the JUTC’s deepening crisis is a symptom of a larger failing: the complete absence of a coherent, long-term national public transportation policy from the current government. He issued a clear warning that continued delays to comprehensive structural reform will only further erode public transit access and reliability across the entire island of Jamaica.

  • Dominican Senate approves air services agreement with Greece

    Dominican Senate approves air services agreement with Greece

    In a move set to reshape air connectivity and bilateral relations between the Caribbean and Southern Europe, the Senate of the Dominican Republic has given final approval to a comprehensive Air Services Agreement with Greece, unlocking new potential for expanded passenger and cargo air links between the two nations.

    The landmark accord was originally signed on November 13, 2025, on the sidelines of the ICAN 2025 international aviation conference, where it was developed as a framework to deepen collaborative work across the aviation sectors of both countries. Beyond basic air service access, the agreement includes progressive provisions that grant carriers from both nations fifth freedom traffic rights for passenger services, allowing airlines to pick up and drop off passengers in a third country before continuing to their destination. For all-cargo operations, the deal goes a step further, offering seventh freedom rights that enable cargo carriers to operate entirely between foreign countries without requiring a connection back to their home nation. It also introduces more flexible operating rules to support widespread code-sharing partnerships between airlines from both signatory states, opening the door for more route options and better scheduling for travelers and shippers alike.

    Championed and advanced by the Dominican Republic’s Civil Aviation Board, the new agreement aligns with the country’s long-term national strategy to cement its status as a leading logistics and tourism hub across the Latin American and Caribbean region. Dominican authorities have outlined clear expectations for the deal: it is projected to open untapped commercial opportunities for both countries, upgrade the Dominican Republic’s global air connectivity network, and create stronger, more integrated diplomatic and economic bonds between Santo Domingo and Athens.

  • Senator Cholitín warns La Altagracia is being “punished by success”

    Senator Cholitín warns La Altagracia is being “punished by success”

    In a stark address delivered before the Dominican Republic’s Senate, senior lawmaker Rafael Barón Duluc — widely known by his nickname Cholitín — has sounded the alarm over unregulated, uneven expansion in the province of La Altagracia, home to the Caribbean’s iconic tourist hubs Punta Cana and Bávaro. While the region has cemented its reputation as one of the top travel destinations in the Americas, drawing millions of visitors and generating billions in annual revenue, its rapid growth has come at a steep cost, Duluc argued.

    Duluc framed La Altagracia’s current crisis as a case of “being punished by success”: the province’s booming tourism economy has failed to deliver broad-based improvements to quality of life for local residents, leaving critical public sectors starved for targeted investment and basic infrastructure outdated and overstretched. One of the most glaring gaps in data is also the root of many of the region’s challenges, he claimed: official population counts drastically undercount the actual number of people who call La Altagracia home, with Duluc putting the current population at over 1 million, far higher than government estimates.

    To address this data deficit, Duluc is backing a Senate resolution that calls on President Luis Abinader to direct the National Statistics Office (ONE) to carry out a one-time, specialized census focused exclusively on La Altagracia. Without an accurate count of residents, the senator explained, local and national leaders cannot allocate sufficient funding or resources to fix widespread shortages that have plagued daily life in the province. These shortages range from K-12 classroom space and accessible public transportation to core utility services, while unmanaged population growth has also turned chronic traffic congestion into a daily crisis in both Punta Cana and the nearby town of Verón.

    Duluc’s warning carries added weight, as it aligns with recent comments from Frank Rainieri, the pioneering tourism developer who helped transform Punta Cana from a remote coastal stretch into a global travel destination. Rainieri recently echoed the same concern, describing the region’s current pattern of unregulated growth as fundamentally unsustainable long-term. For Duluc, the specialized census is not just a bureaucratic exercise — it is the most critical first step to lay the groundwork for informed strategic planning, targeted public investment, and inclusive growth that can benefit both the tourism industry and the local community that calls La Altagracia home.

  • Abinader arrives in Guyana to sign new cooperation agreements with President Ali

    Abinader arrives in Guyana to sign new cooperation agreements with President Ali

    GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader touched down in Georgetown Wednesday evening to launch his fourth official working visit to the South American nation, a trip aimed at reinforcing long-standing bilateral ties and expanding collaborative frameworks between the two countries through new agreements with Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

    Upon his arrival at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Abinader received an official welcome from a senior Guyanese delegation led by Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, Foreign Minister Hugh Todd, alongside Ernesto Torres, the Dominican Republic’s resident ambassador to Guyana. After participating in formal military honors to mark the official nature of his visit, the Dominican leader joined Guyanese government officials for a welcoming reception hosted at Government House.

    A full day of diplomatic engagement is scheduled for Thursday, starting with a closed-door bilateral meeting between Abinader and Ali to discuss shared priorities and ongoing collaborative projects. Following their talks, the two heads of state will oversee the signing of a new bilateral cooperation agreement that expands on existing partnerships.

    This current visit builds directly on progress achieved in 2023, when the two governments signed six memorandums of understanding targeting key sectors of mutual interest: sustainable energy development, national food security, and cross-border trade expansion. Abinader is traveling with a senior cabinet and delegation, including Joel Santos, the Dominican Minister of Energy and Mines, Samuel Pereyra, chairman of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), and Tulio Rodríguez, the government’s special coordinator for Guyana affairs. The Dominican president is scheduled to complete his diplomatic engagements and depart for the Dominican Republic by the end of Thursday.

  • Minnis ‘disappointed’ by loss but pledges to remain active

    Minnis ‘disappointed’ by loss but pledges to remain active

    One day after final votes were tallied in The Bahamas’ general election, former prime minister Hubert Minnis opened up about his unexpected loss of the Killarney constituency seat — a post he held for nearly 20 years — revealing that while disappointment lingers, his engagement with the community he represented is far from over.

    Minnis’ defeat came after a historic and politically charged campaign that saw the former leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) split from the party he once headed, launching a rare independent bid for re-election following months of public friction with current FNM leader Michael Pintard and the party’s senior leadership. When the FNM leadership declined to renominate Minnis as its candidate for the 2026 general election, he opted to stay in the race, marking the first time any former Bahamian prime minister has run as an independent after leaving the party they once led. On election night, early results projected FNM nominee Michela Barnett-Ellis as the winner of the Killarney seat, ending Minnis’ decades-long hold on the constituency.

    The former prime minister arrived at a mandatory vote recount at the New Providence Community Centre on Thursday morning clad in his signature campaign gear — a branded “Killarney Strong” shirt and matching hat — and remained outwardly calm throughout the process. Speaking to reporters after the recount confirmed his loss, Minnis acknowledged the letdown of the outcome, but framed defeat in an unexpectedly reflective light.

    “Of course, I would have been somewhat disappointed that I lost in Killarney,” he told reporters outside the centre. “Sometimes defeat can be victory. In terms of feeling, I still feel good. I woke up this morning and did my usual thing and just came from coffee house with my lovely wife enjoying a nice morning of coffee.”

    As a long-time resident of the Killarney constituency, Minnis made clear that he has no plans to step back from community work. He announced a new initiative to launch an Educational Trust Fund, designed to provide much-needed financial aid to local high school students facing economic barriers. The former prime minister confirmed he will seed the fund with $100,000 of his own personal capital, and he plans to solicit additional donations from outside sponsors to expand the fund’s reach.

    For months leading up to election day, Minnis remained confident he would retain the Killarney seat, even as pundits questioned his odds as an independent candidate. When asked on election day what his future would hold if he lost, he dismissed the question and reaffirmed his belief in a victory.

    When asked Thursday whether his defeat signals the end of his formal political career, Minnis said he has not yet held in-depth conversations with his family about his long-term plans, stressing that his loved ones will be central to any future decision he makes. When pressed on whether he would consider reconciling and rejoining the FNM, he ruled out that possibility, noting that he currently plans to shift his focus to supporting his children as they grow their own business ventures. When asked what factors led to his defeat, he simply replied, “Only God knows.”

    The 2026 general election delivered a decisive victory for the incumbent Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), which secured a second consecutive term in office. Unofficial final results show the PLP winning 33 of the 41 available parliamentary seats, while the FNM only captured eight seats. When asked for comment on the FNM’s poor overall performance in the election, Minnis said he does not interfere in the internal affairs of his former party.

    “To be honest with you, I can’t tell you my real belief or what I believe happened,” he said. “I will write that in my journals, you know, but that’s my belief, and it would be backed up with some facts, but it’s not for public consumption at this time, the public is not prepared to take that. They can’t devour it at this time.”

  • Voter turnout voter turnout a ‘tragic’ 58%

    Voter turnout voter turnout a ‘tragic’ 58%

    In the wake of Tuesday’s general election in the Bahamas, an alarming projected voter turnout of just 58 percent has sent shockwaves through the nation’s political landscape, with senior electoral officials warning the figure would mark an unprecedented collapse in civic participation if officially confirmed. Geoffrey McPhee, an election consultant with the country’s Parliamentary Registration Department, told reporters Wednesday that the unofficial estimate — which remains subject to confirmation as recounts proceed across 25 contested constituencies — points to voter turnout falling even lower than the 2021 snap election held at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    McPhee emphasized that the 58 percent figure is still preliminary, drawn from preliminary on-the-night assessments by election staff, but called the projected drop a devastating blow to the country’s democratic culture. “Our folks, we have gone south with respect to excitement about elections. That is really, really, that’s horrible,” he said, adding that the 2021 COVID-era turnout, already a historic low, outperforms the current projection. “That’s tragic, because with elections, once they miss the election, they don’t feel the urgency to reengage.”

    The projected slump represents a staggering break from the Bahamas’ strong post-independence voting tradition. For decades after the nation gained independence, general election turnout routinely exceeded 88 percent, and regularly climbed above 90 percent through the first three decades of self-governance. The 1977 inaugural post-independence general election recorded an 88.6 percent turnout, with numbers rising to 90.4 percent in 1982 and holding above 90 percent through 1987. Turnout stayed consistently high even as power shifted between major parties: it hit 91 percent when the Free National Movement (FNM) ended the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) decades-long hold on government in 1992, and reached 93.2 percent when the FNM secured a landslide second term in 1997. Through 2002, 2007 and 2012, turnout remained firmly above 90 percent, and even in 2017, the first election to show a clear downward trend, participation still hit 88.4 percent.

    The first historic rupture came in 2021, when turnout fell sharply to 64.9 percent. If the current 58 percent projection holds, Tuesday’s election will set a new post-independence low for voter engagement. The low turnout coincided with the PLP securing a commanding second consecutive term in office, with unofficial results showing the party winning 32 of 41 seats, nearly matching its 2021 landslide victory that ousted the FNM from power.

    Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, leader of the PLP, acknowledged the unexpectedly low turnout, noting that weak participation is never healthy for a democratic society and that more work must be done to help all voters feel that their ballots carry meaningful weight. So far, the highest recorded local turnout is expected in the New Providence constituency of Fort Charlotte, where former Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian defeated FNM candidate Travis Robinson by more than 2,300 votes on an estimated 72 percent turnout, according to local insiders.

    Civil society leaders have joined electoral officials in sounding the alarm, stressing that the projected low turnout should concern all Bahamians regardless of partisan alignment. Matt Aubry, head of the nonpartisan Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG), said that weak participation does not necessarily equal voter apathy. Instead, he argued, many disengage because they do not feel their concerns are being addressed or that voting will lead to tangible change in their daily lives.

    During the organization’s voter education outreach across the election cycle, Aubry said, ORG teams heard repeated frustration, particularly from young and first-time voters, who criticized campaigns for focusing heavily on personality politics and sensationalized rhetoric instead of the bread-and-butter issues affecting most Bahamian households. These include persistent struggles with the cost of living, limited economic opportunity, rising crime, high energy costs, inadequate housing and eroding public trust in political leadership.

    Voters also repeatedly raised concerns about longstanding gaps in governance transparency, accountability, public procurement, campaign finance reform and access to information, even as more residents recognize how directly policy choices impact their daily lives and opportunities. Beyond policy grievances, Aubry noted that issues during the advanced voting process — including reported gaps in preparedness and efficiency — combined with ongoing public anger over the violation of campaign laws around candidate treat-giving by multiple parties, may have further eroded motivation to participate. The delayed and partial rollout of new biometric voter identification cards, paired with widespread misinformation and speculation on social media, also created confusion that may have undermined public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process for some voters, he added.

  • Bailey brothers to make history as deputy police chiefs

    Bailey brothers to make history as deputy police chiefs

    In a landmark overhaul of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ national security apparatus, Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock has confirmed that two biological brothers will occupy top leadership posts in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, as part of a wide-ranging restructuring that also touches school security and the national fire service.

    Speaking on NBC Radio on Wednesday, May 13, Leacock laid out the timeline and details of the senior leadership changes: when current acting Police Chief and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Frankie Joseph retires upon the expiration of his upcoming leave, veteran officer Trevor “Buju” Bailey will step into the role of acting DCP. His younger brother Dwayne Bailey, a superintendent who has overseen the country’s prison system since 2021, will return to the police high command as a second DCP. The appointments mark the first time two siblings from the same household will serve simultaneously at the most senior levels of the national police force, a development Leacock described as unprecedented in the country’s history.

    The restructuring leaves current Commissioner of Police Enville Williams in his post, and follows the newly elected New Democratic Party (NDP) government’s approval of an additional DCP position in the national budget passed in February. When the budget was approved, Leacock had previously suggested the extra post might remain unfilled in 2026, with allocated funds directed to stipends for acting corporals. He clarified Wednesday that those stipends will continue even as the government fills the two new DCP roles, emphasizing that Dwayne Bailey’s return to top command will strengthen the force’s operational capacity. Leacock framed Dwayne Bailey’s shift from prisons to police as an almost lateral rank change, but a strategically critical move for public safety. Before his 2021 appointment to run prisons, Dwayne Bailey was a leading frontline crime-fighter with the police’s Rapid Response Unit, and took over the prison system after convicted murderer Veron Primus escaped twice while awaiting trial.

    The Bailey brothers’ appointments are just the centerpiece of a much broader reshuffle that includes multiple promotions and reassignments across senior ranks. One of the most notable promotions goes to Brenton Smith, a former Station Sergeant with a Master of Science in police leadership and management, who will jump directly from his current rank to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). Smith was fired from the force in 2021 under the previous Unity Labour Party government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and later served as NDP’s general secretary until last December. He was reinstated with all full benefits under the new NDP government’s policy of restoring roles to workers dismissed over the mandate. In his new role as head of the police’s human resource development department, Smith will tackle longstanding complaints about promotion stagnation, including cases where officers remain constables for 20 to 25 years while others rise to senior rank in just a few years. His portfolio will cover performance appraisals, training, recruitment, and manpower planning to streamline force operations.

    A second senior superintendent, Junior Simmons, a longtime police spokesperson and intelligence specialist, will also be promoted to the rank of ACP. Final confirmations for the new promotions are on hold while current ACP Christopher Benjamin, who is currently on leave, prepares to retire after his leave ends. Leacock added that an additional ACP appointment may be announced in the near future once all acting role transitions are finalized.

    The restructuring has already sparked public controversy, particularly over the reassignment of two current ACPs, Benzil Samuel and Hezran Ballantyne, to oversee national school security. Critics have argued that posting senior police officers to schools is unnecessary and amounts to over-policing, but Leacock pushed back against that criticism, noting that school security has long been inadequate across much of the country. Many schools lack proper perimeter fencing, and understaffed auxiliary police forces are often overwhelmed managing campuses with hundreds of students, while auxiliary officers do not always carry the same authority as regular police. Leacock said the decision to assign senior ACPs to overhaul school security follows direct requests from school leaders and parent-teacher associations, and is rooted in on-the-ground assessments by police command. He added that rising concerns about unruly public behavior across the country make the upgrade to school security a pressing priority, and the government will move forward with the plan despite objections.

    Leacock also rejected claims that the widespread leadership and structural changes amount to a government power grab that will turn St. Vincent and the Grenadines into a “police state”, calling the accusations far-fetched. The entire restructuring, he emphasized, is driven by a practical need to address longstanding operational challenges, target so-called “bad actors” fueling crime and public disorder, and rebuild depleted capacity across the full national security spectrum—including police, prisons, fire services, and auxiliary security forces.

    The leadership reshuffle has opened up vacancies across every rank of the police force, from constable up to superintendent, and the government plans to launch new recruitment drives to fill these gaps. Leacock also announced plans to strengthen specialized police units, which have been depleted in recent years, leading to inconsistent security details for embassies, judges, and senior government officials, particularly on weekends. To address this gap, the government is considering creating a dedicated formal guard unit, staffed by a mix of specially trained auxiliary officers and tactical unit personnel, to take over permanent responsibility for these security details. Moving forward, Leacock added, the government will end the practice of arbitrarily reassigning highly trained specialized officers to regular beat duty, a shift designed to increase operational efficiency through deeper specialization.

  • First in 30 Years: Bahamas Re-Elects Its Prime Minister

    First in 30 Years: Bahamas Re-Elects Its Prime Minister

    In a historic outcome that reshapes Bahamian politics, incumbent Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has secured a decisive re-election victory, marking the first time a sitting leader has won back-to-back terms in nearly three decades. The snap vote, held on a Tuesday in May 2026 months ahead of the originally scheduled October poll, delivered a landslide for Davis and his party, which claimed more than 30 out of the 41 total seats in the national parliament. The early election was strategically called by Davis to avoid potential disruption from the annual Atlantic hurricane season, a decision that ultimately paid off for the ruling party. In his first public address following the confirmation of his victory, Davis struck a humble tone, acknowledging the will of the Bahamian people. “The Bahamian people have spoken, and I receive their verdict with humility and gratitude,” Davis said. “This victory is a mandate to keep moving The Bahamas forward, to expand opportunity, strengthen security, ease the pressure on families, and deliver progress across our islands.” The main opposition bloc, the Free National Movement (FNM), faced a devastating rout in the election. The party was projected to walk away with just 8 parliamentary seats, and both its sitting chair and deputy leader lost their bids for re-election. The losses extended to former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, who was denied the FNM’s nomination for his long-held seat and launched an independent campaign to retain the post he had held for nearly 20 years. Minnis ultimately failed to secure enough support to hold the seat, closing a major chapter in the FNM’s recent history. Cost of living pressures dominated voter concerns throughout the campaign, with skyrocketing housing costs and stagnant wage growth emerging as the top issues driving Bahamian voters to the polls. Davis’ ability to address these public anxieties, paired with his strategic decision to call an early vote, cleared a path to his historic re-election, breaking a three-decade pattern of leadership turnover in the island nation.