The Bahamas Constitution Party (BCP) is very concerned regarding the date set by Prime Minister Phillip Davis for the 2026 General Election. While many calls and requests went out earlier in the year to set a date for the national Polling, the set date for the Election was without proper consideration and clearly ill-advised.
The date May 12th, two days after Mother’s Day and in the middle of the National BJC and BGCSE examinations is expected to drive hundreds of teachers and school administrators to reschedule thousands of students in order to honour the Prime Minister’s decision, that was made for partisan political expediency and the advantage by his party. This raises a critical and unavoidable question: Where was the Minister of Education at the time the decision was made to displace the nation’s examination candidates and educators, seemingly in deference to the political interests and priorities of Prime Minister Davis?
In addition to the significant disruption to the public school system, the Prime Minister should have considered the broader societal impact of such timing. The month of May is a period when many families travel, particularly to the United States and Canada to attend graduations, and when mothers often journey to visit children living in different cities or islands.
The scale of movement during this time raises legitimate concerns as to whether these factors were properly considered. As it stands, the decision reflects a troubling lack of sensitivity to the realities facing Bahamian families. I cry shame on this Administration.
The Prime Minister should also have taken into consideration that thousands of Bahamians are still crowding the Parliamentary Registration Department and its centers in an effort to register, only to encounter a slow and frustrating process.
Further to that, the announcement that the Parliamentary Registration Department has suspended document verification to accelerate manual processing, in an effort to facilitate quicker registrations, has only deepened public concern and apprehension, particularly fears that the system may be compromised and allow ineligible individuals to be registered to vote.
However, the greatest matter affecting the date is the daily discovery of fraudulent passports, NIB and voter registration cards in the hands of foreign nationals; which will adversely affect the voting and the selection of an authentic Bahamian government. The fact that thousands of Bahamians are up in arms about this issue and is encouraging an Independent investigation, should in itself have restrained the Prime Minister in his consideration of this date.
Despite the Constitutional discretion given the Prime Minister, all factors should have been taken into careful consideration, making certain that the date scheduled for the Elections, which is not constitutionally mandated until October 6th; meets all the criteria and availability of as many of the electorates as possible, and within the level of respect for the business conducted by the citizenry.
The BCP is appealing to the Prime Minister Philip Davis to rescind his decision to call an early election, and give way to commonsense and respect for the Bahamian people and their concerns, and yield to the principles of constitutional governance, respect for the rule of law, national service, and the protection of the rights and liberties of the Bahamian people.
