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A decades-long debate over gambling legalization in The Bahamas has reignited after the opposition Free National Movement (FNM) announced plans to pursue a state-operated national lottery, drawing fierce pushback from a prominent religious and anti-gambling activist who says the plan directly defies the will of the Bahamian public.

Pastor Lyall Bethel, who previously served as co-leader of the anti-gambling advocacy group Save Our Bahamas, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the proposal. In a public letter to the editor, Bethel called the FNM’s policy shift an unforgivable “slap in the face” to voters who overwhelmingly rejected both a national lottery and the regulation of unlicensed web shop gambling in a 2013 national referendum.

Bethel says he was shocked by the opposition’s decision to resurrect the policy, noting that official referendum results make voter opposition unambiguous: 59.56 percent of participants rejected a national lottery, while 60.71 percent voted against regulating and taxing existing web shop gambling operations. For Bethel, the FNM’s choice to advance the proposal despite this clear outcome is not just a policy misstep — it is a deliberate insult to the majority of Bahamians who cast their ballots against expanded gambling.

“To see the opposition wade foolishly and recklessly into this conversation with talk of a national lottery is insulting and a slap in the face to the majority of Bahamians who said NO to BOTH the proliferation of numbers house gambling AND a national lottery,” Bethel wrote. “THE PEOPLE SAID NO!”

Beyond the breach of democratic will, Bethel argues the FNM has surrendered the moral high ground it held among the large bloc of Bahamian voters who oppose expanded gambling. He notes the party had a clear opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to respecting public opinion and the stance of the country’s majority religious institutions, but squandered that political advantage through what he calls an unnecessary and reckless action.

The controversy stems from recent remarks by FNM leader Michael Pintard, who framed a state-run national lottery as a promising new revenue stream to fund national development projects. The proposal has pulled back the curtain on a decades-long national debate that has stalled multiple previous attempts to expand legal gambling, held back by widespread concerns over its potential social harms and questions about long-term feasibility.

Incumbent Prime Minister Philip Davis has already dismissed the FNM’s plan as a shallow political “gimmick”, and Bethel is far from alone in his opposition. Other senior religious leaders across the country have renewed their longstanding objections to the proposal, pointing both to the 2013 referendum result and the proven social damage that expanded gambling brings to low-income and vulnerable communities.

For Bethel, gambling is already a corrosive force in Bahamian society, which he describes as “a parasitic pariah on the soul of this country”. He warns that formalizing and expanding access through a national lottery would only exacerbate the social harms that Bahamians already grapple with, from problem gambling to increased economic inequality.

Bethel also raised pointed questions about whether lottery proceeds would actually be used for the public development projects promised by the FNM, pointing to longstanding public anger over mismanagement and corruption in the handling of public funds across successive Bahamian governments. “Bahamians are tired of waste, corruption, failed rehashed ideas peddled by one government after the other,” he wrote.

In closing, Bethel issued a direct warning to Pintard, urging the FNM leader to reverse course immediately before the proposal erodes his party’s political support. “I urge Mr Pintard to step back from this reckless, foolish decision that will cost you more votes than you think you gained,” he said. He added that the plan risks alienating both influential church groups and the large share of voters who oppose gambling, insisting that the 2013 referendum result must remain the final word on the issue. “The people said NO to a National Lottery! What part of ‘NO’ is unclear to the FNM?” he wrote.

A high-profile corruption trial centered on public infrastructure contracts in The Bahamas took another pivotal turn this week, as the star prosecution witness pushed back against aggressive defense questioning while standing by her agreement to cooperate with authorities. The case, which has gripped local political circles since opening in late 2023, involves Adrian Gibson, a Long Island Member of Parliament and former executive chairman of the country’s Water and Sewerage Corporation, who stands accused of misconduct tied to contract awards during his tenure at the state-owned utility. Alexsndria Mackey, Gibson’s one-time romantic partner and former business associate, took the stand in the Supreme Court on Tuesday to face cross-examination from Damian Gomez, KC, lead defense counsel for Gibson.

Under hours of pointed questioning, Mackey reaffirmed her commitment to testifying truthfully, noting that her grant of immunity from prosecution is explicitly conditional on her full and honest cooperation with the investigation. She acknowledged that the serious criminal charges she originally faced, which carry severe legal penalties, were a major factor in her decision to negotiate a plea deal, but pushed back against defense claims that she fabricated testimony solely to avoid prison time. “I knew I needed to tell the truth,” Mackey told the court, adding that even with the threat of potential incarceration hanging over her, her decision to accept the deal was rooted in a requirement to disclose everything she knew about the business arrangements tied to the contracts.

Mackey detailed the timeline of her decision to cooperate, explaining she moved forward with the immunity agreement shortly after co-defendant Tanya Demeritte was arrested and returned to The Bahamas. At that time, Mackey said, she learned she was also at risk of arrest, prompting her to move forward with negotiations through her legal representation. She flatly denied a defense claim that former Assistant Commissioner of Police Deleveaux pressured her to testify by threatening deportation or legal action against her parents, dismissing the assertion outright.

Much of Tuesday’s cross-examination centered on the corporate structure of two firms tied to the case — Elite Maintenance and Oak Bay Limited. Mackey has maintained that she, Gibson, and Demeritte were the true beneficial owners of the companies, which won contracts from the Water and Sewerage Corporation during Gibson’s tenure. She admitted that the beneficial owners were never officially registered with authorities, and that bank documents listed Jerome Missick and Joan Knowles, two of Gibson’s co-defendants in the trial, as placeholder owners to conceal the identities of the true shareholders. When challenged by Gomez over whether she is hiding key corporate records and lying about having already turned relevant documents over to Gibson, Mackey denied the allegations.

On one point of discrepancy, Gomez called into question Mackey’s recent claim that key documents were sent to Grand Bahama, noting she had not raised that detail in earlier police interviews. Mackey acknowledged that she did not mention specific trust documents during her initial interview with law enforcement, and could not recall when she first brought up the detail, but stood by her core account of the companies’ ownership structure. She confirmed she received payments from Oak Bay Limited, though she could not recall the full total of disbursements. She also told the court that Gibson outlined the roles of director nominees when the companies were first formed, though she acknowledged she never directly heard Gibson give instructions to placeholder owner Joan Knowles, confirming she followed his direction on all corporate matters when the pair were in a relationship.

Additional details that emerged during the cross-examination included confirmation that attorney David Cash negotiated the immunity deal for Mackey and Demeritte, and that Mackey’s mother paid the $10,000 fine required under Demeritte’s plea agreement. Gibson is one of five defendants on trial over the contract awards, alongside former Water and Sewerage Corporation general manager Donaldson Jr, Joan Knowles, Peaches Farquharson, and Jerome Missick. The trial, which began in November 2023, is being presided over by Senior Justice Cheryl Grant Thompson, and is expected to continue through coming weeks as more evidence is presented and witnesses testify.

With just 28 days remaining until the Bahamas’ critical general election, the Free National Movement (FNM) held its first major campaign rally on New Providence, where party leader Michael Pintard launched a fiery defense of his controversial proposed national lottery, directly pushing back against scathing criticism from sitting Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis.

Held at Golden Gates Park under the campaign theme “Fire Forward,” the event drew an energized crowd of FNM supporters, who packed the venue dressed in official party gear, waving party flags, chanting and dancing as the slate of party candidates took the stage. Signature FNM anthems, from “Simply the Best” to “Keep the Fire Burning,” played throughout the night, building a festive, high-stakes campaign atmosphere. The rally wrapped with a traditional Junkanoo rush-out after a closing prayer, leaving attendees buzzing with momentum ahead of the upcoming vote.

In his keynote address – delivered after a dramatic torch-lit procession entrance accompanied by police escort – Pintard pushed back hard against Davis’ recent dismissal of the lottery plan as a cynical “gimmick” rooted in electoral desperation. The FNM leader accused the prime minister of outright hypocrisy, arguing that Davis’ label is far more fitting for the incumbent administration’s own policy practices.

Pintard hit out at the government’s handling of public funds, declaring, “The prime minister [is] the chief architect of gimmicks. They started talking about slash funds and if you look in the dictionary next to slash funds, you will see the picture of the prime minister.”

Outlining the core guardrails of his proposal, Pintard emphasized that the FNM’s national lottery would operate under strict regulatory oversight from an independent governing board, designed to explicitly insulate revenue from political misallocation and interference. He noted that unregulated gambling is already widespread across the Bahamas, arguing that formalizing the sector would allow the government to redirect currently untapped funds toward tangible public benefits for Bahamian citizens.

To back the plan, Pintard pointed to existing national lottery models in countries including the Dominican Republic, Curaçao, St Martin and Ghana, explaining that the Bahamian framework would allow the state lottery to coexist with existing private gaming operators while directing all proceeds toward public initiatives. These would range from small business grants for aspiring entrepreneurs, to financial support for students pursuing post-secondary education both at home and abroad, to investments in cultural development and environmental protection.

Questioning the incumbent government’s opposition, Pintard noted, “it was them who gave birth to the regularizing of gaming. Why would it be a problem for them all of a sudden to have a national lottery where the bulk of those resources are being administered to the government system?”

Davis had struck back at the proposal just days earlier, questioning both its intent and the international examples Pintard cited. The prime minister called the plan a headline-grabbing stunt rooted in political desperation, arguing that the Dominican Republic’s national lottery – the example Pintard highlighted – has been marred by widespread corruption and mismanagement. Davis claimed the proposal amounted to a poorly thought out plan to create a slush fund for corrupt actors.

Beyond the lottery debate, Pintard used his keynote to address broader hot-button issues including national sovereignty and immigration, holding up a Bahamian passport as a core symbol of national pride and birthright. He affirmed that all individuals who obtain Bahamian documentation through legal channels – regardless of their country of origin – are welcome members of the Bahamian community, but blasted the incumbent administration for failing to crack down on rampant fraud involving identity documents like passports and voter ID cards.

Pintard accused the government of targeting critics who raise alarms about document fraud, saying, “if you’re not outraged by the frequency with which fraudulent passports, voters cards are being used in this country, if you are not angry about that, then you must be an accomplice in it happening.” He also pledged that if the FNM wins the election, a new administration would immediately launch a full audit of incumbent government finances to track public spending and root out mismanagement, declaring “we’re going to open the books.”

The rally marked the FNM’s second major campaign event, and featured remarks from the party’s full slate of New Providence candidates, including Pinewood hopeful Denari Rolle, Golden Gates candidate Michael Foulkes, Garden Hills candidate Rick Fox, Bamboo Town candidate Dr. Duane Sands, Carmichael candidate Arinthia Komolafe and South Beach candidate Darren Henfield. Each candidate used their platform to criticize the ruling Progressive Liberal Party, pointing to what they described as a lack of tangible progress across their constituencies. FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright, who is contesting the newly created St. James constituency, introduced Pintard and offered brief remarks on immigration and public spending ahead of the keynote.