NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – With general elections due by October 2026, Prime Minister Phillip Davis has told members of the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) that division within the party will create opportunities for a change of government at the polls.
He said that the PLP must be a united force going into the next general election and that party members must begin getting “battle ready” for the polls.
The PLP won 32 of the 39 seats at stake in the Parliament in the September 16, 2021, general election, and Davis, speaking at the PLP’s headquarters on Sunday, said the party doesn’t have time for “gossip, backbiting, and rumors.”
“Get battle ready. The fight is coming, and we will meet it with unity, purpose, and power. The Progressive Liberal Party has defeated many things—economic collapse, political attacks, and an opposition with no plan or purpose. But the one thing we cannot afford to fight is ourselves.
“The PLP cannot be its biggest enemy. We cannot waste time pulling each other down while trying to lift the country. We cannot spend energy fighting internal battles when the real fight is out there, in the streets, in the hearts and minds of the Bahamian people, where the future of this country will be decided,” he told supporters, adding that under his watch, he will not allow the movement to be undone by division and personal agendas.
“I will not allow that to happen on our watch. We don’t have time for gossip. We don’t have room for backbiting. And we don’t have patience for those more interested in position than purpose,” Davis said, turning his attention to Opposition Leader Michael Pintard, who heads the main opposition Free National Movement (FNM) Leader.
He described Pintard as an actor who has never had a real job, saying, “Michael Pintard wants to lead this country, but I have a simple question: What real job has he ever had?”
“What has he ever built? What has he ever managed outside of press conferences and political complaints? I’ve worked my whole life. I built my legal practice from the ground up. I paid staff. I met payroll. I earned my way in the courtroom and the community. That’s a real job. That’s a real responsibility.”
Davis said Pintard is “not a leader. He’s not a builder.
“He’s a parrot, not a poet. He repeats what influential people want to hear. He mimics the voices of those who already have influence instead of using his platform to speak for those who have none. He doesn’t challenge power. He echoes it.
“And in all his years in politics, what does he have to show? He spoke against raising the minimum wage. He voted against feeding children through the school breakfast program. He resisted energy reform while families struggled under the weight of high bills. He talks in headlines but delivers nothing.”
Davis said there is a lot at stake in the next election and that many of the projects implemented by the PLP would be at risk if the FNM is elected.
“Let me tell you what’s on the line. The hospital in Grand Bahama, the airport redevelopment, the jobs from the Grand Lucayan project, the school breakfast expansions, and the progress in energy reform are all at risk.
“So don’t let anyone tell you this is just politics. This is personal for every Bahamian family trying to get ahead,” Davis said.
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