分类： politics

As the Bahamas prepares for its hotly contested general election, the country’s two major political parties have wrapped up their final campaign events over the weekend, delivering starkly contrasting closing messages to voters ahead of polling day.

Incumbent Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), took the stage Saturday night before a crowd of thousands of energized supporters at Nassau’s Clifford Park, framing his administration’s bid for a second term as a chance to build on four years of progress. The rally opened with the entrance of Davis to the song *Goodness of God*, complete with celebratory fireworks, live performances from local artists, and speeches from all PLP candidates, as attendees repeatedly cheered on the party’s re-election bid.

During his keynote address, Davis laid out an ambitious policy agenda for a new term, centered on expanding access to opportunity across housing, workforce development, healthcare, and small business growth. A core pillar of the plan is upskilling: Davis committed that a returning PLP government would train 25,000 Bahamians through the Upskill Bahamas initiative by 2031, building on the existing National Apprenticeship Programme. The administration also plans to construct new campuses for the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) and a new Public Health Authority academy, while investing in the expansion of the domestic creative economy to retain local talent.

“For too long, we have watched some of our writers in this country get their education, build their careers and they don’t come back home because the opportunity was not here, because the path home was not clear,” Davis told the crowd. “So we are not just educating young Bahamians. We are building a country where people will stay and build both their careers and our country.”

On housing, Davis prioritized expanding affordable homeownership, specifically targeting essential workers including nurses, teachers, and law enforcement officers through an expanded rent-to-own programme. To protect renters, he pledged new national mandatory housing standards and the creation of a dedicated residential tenancy authority, alongside a programme to repurpose distressed properties for the affordable housing market. “For every Bahamian who wants a path to ownership, this government is going to offer significantly increased help in building that path,” he added.

For healthcare, Davis highlighted ongoing clinic renovations and new hospital projects, while announcing new reforms for a second term: full health insurance coverage for all public servants, including Bahamian contract workers, expanded prescription drug coverage under the National Health Insurance scheme, a permanent 24-hour suicide prevention hotline, and the rollout of telemedicine and mobile clinics to all Family Island health facilities within three years. He also confirmed an expansion of the catastrophic healthcare fund to shield families from crippling medical debt following unexpected serious diagnoses.

To cut red tape for local entrepreneurs, Davis announced a new unified digital one-stop application system that would allow business owners to register a company, obtain a business license, sign up for National Insurance Board coverage, and secure a tax identification number all through a single form. A unified development approval portal with legally binding mandatory decision timelines will also end the longstanding problem of development applications sitting unanswered for months, he said.

Davis closed his address by attacking the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), dismissing its leadership as petty, spiteful, and ill-suited for national office. Speaking directly to FNM leader Michael Pintard, he noted that the role of prime minister requires steady temperament and sound judgment that voters can trust, calling out the opposition’s recent campaign claims. “This not a job for those with anger management issues. But above all, people have to be able to trust your judgment,” he said. He also pushed back against FNM claims of shifting voter momentum after the opposition’s recent SOS rally, pointing to the massive turnout at Clifford Park as evidence of PLP’s support.

Meanwhile, at the FNM’s closing rally held at Savannah Sound Park on the island of Eleuthera, Pintard doubled down on scathing criticism of the PLP, framing the election as a chance to remove a dishonest, corrupt administration that has betrayed public trust.

Pintard opened by accusing the PLP of repeated lies to voters, including false claims about FNM policy. He refuted PLP assertions that the FNM would eliminate the popular national school lunch programme, noting the FNM originally created the policy when it held power. He also denied claims that an FNM government would mass fire public servants and postal workers, turning the accusation back on Davis, who he criticized for failing to intervene when dozens of women social services workers were fired from the Marathon constituency under a PLP MP. “Philip was in charge when the member of parliament for Marathon fired women in social services. What did Davis do? He did absolutely nothing to protect those Bahamian women, more than 90 percent of those in urban renewal, more than 95 percent were fired under Philip,” Pintard said.

On national sovereignty, Pintard called out the PLP for failing to address a rising tide of scam marriages designed to exploit Bahamian immigration law. He emphasized that the FNM welcomes legal immigrants and supports genuine cross-border relationships, but will crack down on fraud that undermines national borders. “If two persons fall in love, one from elsewhere, one from here, I celebrate love. They should be entitled to all the rights. But for those who fake love to make paper, we don’t rate you. We rate our laws,” he said. “And so tonight we have an opportunity to send a message to the PLP to let them know we need new leadership in the country that will protect the sovereignty of the country.”

Pintard laid out his own policy platform for voters, including commitments to restore reliable banking access to Family Islands by forgiving or reducing business license fees for commercial banks to incentivize their return to smaller islands. A FNM government would also modernize the national post office, introduce a new national lottery with proceeds directed to sports, culture, education, environmental protection, and youth development, increase agricultural subsidies, and expand educational access for students with disabilities including autism.

On corruption, Pintard said an FNM administration would root out graft in public agencies without mass layoffs of civil servants, noting he never fired staff during his tenure leading two government ministries. “We make no apology for wanting better for you. They can run as many ads as they want so you don’t have to see brothers and sisters arrested for putting their hand in the cookie jar. We will change it and we will make it better without one single person being fired,” he said.

He closed by attacking Davis’s call for early election, alleging the prime minister scheduled the vote before releasing a new budget to hide a widening national deficit. Pintard noted that under the PLP, even without the shocks of Hurricane Dorian or the COVID-19 pandemic, national debt has increased by $2 billion, and the extra billion dollars in annual Value Added Tax revenue that the government collected has not been accounted for. “The PLP with no Dorian and no COVID has added $2 billion on our national debt. The VAT was supposed to be collected to pay down the debt but it has grown. The country was earning a billion dollars extra under Davis and Chester but you don’t know where the money is,” he said. “Philip says we are desperate for power, I say he is desperate to keep power,” he added, also questioning the accounting of $120 million from the sale of Grand Lucayan and claiming Davis should retire rather than seek a second term.

As the Bahamas approaches its upcoming general election, a scheduled lump-sum payment to hundreds of utility workers has ignited public debate over its timing and potential political motivations, with union leadership pushing back firmly against claims of improper political maneuvering.

Kyle Wilson, president of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU), confirmed last week that more than 800 junior line staff employed by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) received a one-time $3,500 cost of living supplement, a benefit explicitly outlined in the union’s existing industrial agreement with the power provider. Speaking to The Tribune, Wilson emphasized that the payout structure was finalized through collective bargaining more than 18 months before the election was called, and the timeline for disbursement aligns with the contractual schedule laid out years in advance.

“This is a contractual entitlement for our members, it has no connection to electoral politics whatsoever,” Wilson stated. “It is purely a coincidence that the scheduled payment date falls just days before the general election. There is no political angle to this at all.” He also clarified that all funds for the supplement come directly from BPL’s operating budget, rather than being drawn from government public coffers.

The timing of the payouts has attracted increased public and media scrutiny, coming on the heels of a controversial decision by the incumbent Davis administration to erase outstanding residential electricity bills for customers on Grand Cay and Moore’s Island. The government has framed that move as a correction of longstanding billing errors that emerged in the wake of Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, but political observers have questioned whether the series of financial benefits for voters are timed to sway electoral support.

Wilson pushed back against these insinuations, accusing political commentators and critics of attempting to politicize a routine internal labor matter. He noted that BPL has a long history of issuing similar cost-of-living lump-sum payments to union employees, meaning the current disbursement is neither unusual nor without precedent.

“Everything is amplified in the lead-up to an election,” Wilson explained. “Opponents and commentators will try to twist any development to score political points, but this is strictly an internal issue between BPL and its unionized workforce. This has nothing to do with the election, in any shape or form.”

Wilson expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the collective bargaining process, noting that the agreement strikes a fair balance for both workers and the utility. He also praised BPL management for sustaining stable, productive labor relations over the past several years, adding that there have been no major work stoppages, union-led demonstrations, or disputes escalated to the national Labour Board during that tenure.

He specifically credited BPL Chief Executive Officer Toni Pratt with fostering a collaborative negotiating environment, which allowed the company and union to reach an amicable agreement that protects worker benefits while supporting the company’s goal of delivering reliable electrical service to Bahamian consumers across the country. Wilson added that the union remains committed to holding up its end of the agreement by supporting workers in delivering high-quality service to the public.