The main opposition Free National Movement (FNM) has pledged to introduce fixed election dates in The Bahamas if it forms the next government following the May 12 general election.
FNM leader Michael Pintard told supporters in Freeport, Grand Bahama, that the current system allows too much discretion over election timing.
“This nonsense of one man or one woman as prime minister, being able to wake up one day and decide, ‘This is when I will call an election,’ that day should be a day of the past. We should have a fixed election day to give predictability to the system,” Pintard said.
Pintard also criticised the administration of Prime Minister Philip Davis and officials at the Parliamentary Registration Department (PRD), pointing to what he described as disorganisation during last Thursday’s advanced poll.
“I’m offering a firm commitment that under my leadership, we will go in a different direction,” he said.
“We should have an independent parliamentary registrar to oversee the elections across our country and to ensure efficiency, fairness, and transparency. As politicians, if we have to pick the friendlies to bring them out of retirement to preside over the process, then we are more interested in us remaining in power rather than democracy working for our people,” Pintard added, saying the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was “playing games.”
In response, the Parliamentary Registration Department acknowledged challenges during the advance poll.
In a statement, the department said, “We recognize that while we had an operational plan in place, there were some challenges that arose and we want to assure the public that we have already begun taking action to improve the voting process on May 12th.”
It noted that some polling stations experienced “extended wait times and long lines,” particularly affecting older voters.
“Many Bahamians expected a smoother experience, especially elder voters who waited for long hours to exercise their right to vote,” the department said.
It added that turnout was “unprecedented,” describing it as the highest participation in an advance poll in Bahamian history, which placed strain on logistics and processing capacity.
“The Parliamentary Registration Department remains focused on ensuring that all necessary provisions are in place for May 12, so that every eligible voter can cast their ballot in an orderly and efficient manner,” it said.
Pintard, however, described troubling scenes at polling stations, saying some elderly voters waited hours in difficult conditions.
“Some of the senior citizens were in wheelchairs and had to wait three hours, four hours later, had tears in their eyes as they waited to vote,” he said.
“In some cases, it was as little as 900. I’m told in some it was less. Yet, people had to wait for many hours to vote.”
He added that some individuals reportedly collapsed while waiting in the heat, despite efforts to distribute umbrellas.
“If this were only incompetence, a lack of ability to carry out a function that we’ve been carrying out for decades, that alone should disqualify the PLP from presiding over this country,” Pintard said, adding that he had not heard any apology from government officials.
Pintard also suggested the delays could have political consequences.
“People who are motivated and wait in long lines in the sun to vote usually don’t vote for the government of the day,” he said.
He asked whether the experience reflected “a government that is showing progress in our electoral process.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Philip Davis has defended his administration’s record, pointing to infrastructure improvements, including the recent opening of the Arthur’s Town airport on Cat Island.
“I’m not a boastful person, but I think everyone on this island, everyone who played a part in making that airport a reality, we all deserve to take a moment, stand back and say, look at what we did,” Davis said.
“That’s progress, the kind of progress you can touch and feel and experience every day, the kind of progress that is just the beginning, that we can build on to continue to make life better.”
In the last general election, the PLP won 32 of the 39 seats, with the FNM securing the remainder.
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