campaign

Days after Parliament was prorogued, the Progressive Liberal Party has moved quickly to install large-scale signs pairing the party’s candidates with Prime Minister Philip Davis.

On the surface, it may seem like a simple design choice, but it is a party strategy.

Traditionally, campaign signs show the individual candidate of the constituency. This time, there is a change, placing Davis prominently alongside candidates. The PLP appears to be nationalizing the election, turning constituency races into a broader referendum on Davis’ leadership.

The message is clear that a vote for the PLP candidate is a vote for Davis.

There are advantages to this strategy. Davis, as incumbent prime minister, carries authority. For new, lesser-known or weaker candidates, closeness to the leader can transfer voter perceived credibility and trust. It also creates a unified campaign image of one party, one message and one face.

But the strategy is also risky.

When the PLP campaign leans heavily on Davis, if voters are dissatisfied with Davis, it can ripple across constituencies, negatively impacting candidates who might otherwise stand on their own record or constituency appeal.

It also raises a deeper question about how voters make decisions.

Are Bahamians voting for the PLP candidate on the ballot or Davis behind them?

With Parliament prorogued and the country edging closer to an election, the PLP is framing the choice before the election is formally announced.

A sea of yellow and blue, lights, music and applause, the Progressive Liberal Party launched its campaign at the Baha Mar Convention Centre with energy. But beyond the spectacle, what new direction was actually placed before voters?

Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis framed the election as a choice between collapse and recovery. He argued his administration “rescued” the Bahamas from the brink, citing an increase in the national minimum wage, the signing of 60 industrial agreements, and a reduction in VAT from 12 percent to 10 percent.

Watch the PLP Campaign Launch here

These are measurable and political talking points. But they are also retrospective.

The speech leaned heavily on what has already been done, not necessarily on what comes next.

Davis contrasted his government’s record with that of the Free National Movement, accusing it of inconsistency on VAT and internal division. He framed his government as ‘stable’ and ‘engaged’ with the ability to ‘recover’.

That is a classic incumbent strategy to turn the election into a referendum on management.

Yet the lingering question is, ‘What is the second-term vision beyond “more progress”?

There was broad language about renewal, investment, fiscal credibility and job creation. There was mention of turning downgrades into upgrades and restoring confidence. But voters listening closely may still be waiting for an outline. What structural reforms are next? What specific cost-of-living measures are on deck? What does economic expansion look like beyond headline investments?

Campaign launches energise the base and define the party’s narrative. On those fronts, the PLP was deliberate. But when the lights dimmed, and the music faded, the event felt more like a defence of a record than the unveiling of a blueprint.

For loyal PLP supporters, that may be enough. For undecided voters, elections are often decided on who says clearly where the country is headed next.

If this campaign is about “choosing progress,” the next question voters may ask is simple, ‘Progress toward what, exactly?

Rick Fox has announced that he will run in St. James, the new constituency, in the next general election. But it does not appear he is running under either major political parties, nor a third party.

With parties already having their preferred candidates—Owen Well for the PLP and supposed Shanendon Cartwright for the FNM, Fox appears to be entering the race as an independent.

Is this the right political move?

Fox says his campaign is about “responsibility” and “transparency,” not “politics as usual.” He argues in a social media post, “St. James is where my family lives, where I work, and where I have chosen to plant my life permanently. I didn’t choose St. James because it is easy. I chose it because it sits at the crossroads of capital, infrastructure, and national decision making, and because when policy works here, it works better for the entire country,” Fox said.

But politics is more than about ideas; it is also about power and influence.

By running independently, Fox separates himself from party politics. That is only attractive to voters who are tired of partisanship and want something different. And he presents himself as transparent, issue-driven, and free from political baggage.

However, there are real risks to his decision.

In the Bahamas, political parties provide the machinery that wins the elections, which includes voter databases, canvassing teams, funding (which he has lots of), election-day organization, etc.

An independent candidate would have to build all of that alone.

Even if Fox is elected, an independent parliamentarian could struggle to help shape national policy and conversation without the backing of a party.

Should Rick Fox pick a side?

Joining a party would give him access to legislative power and a better chance to push the energy reform he suggested, from the inside. A party’s backing would also strengthen his campaign.

There is also the “outsider” factor. Fox lived much of his life in Canada and is now settling in the Bahamas. For some, that could look like fresh thinking. For others, it raises questions about his roots and connection to the Bahamas.

Fox is making a bold bet that voters in St. James will choose his ideas over a party label.

As the Free National Movement hosted another night of its drive-in rallies in Eleuthera, the Progressive Liberal Party opted for a different campaign, a television-style programme to highlight the government’s “failures” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

After putting its drive-in rallies on hold, citing high cases of death and hospitalizations in the country due to COVID-19, PLP Leader Philip Davis faced the camera to deliver a critical message of the government’s handling of the pandemic and the collapsing health care system.

“Why is the competent Authority dancing, instead of fixing the problems? Where is his sense of urgency? Where is his sense of decency? …Don’t tell me it had to be this bad,” Davis said while looking onto the lens of a camera to his supporters.

Davis said if the PLP is elected to govern the country, it will implement measures besides vaccinations, to fight the infectious disease, which would include high-quality masks, educational town hall meetings on vaccines, and ventilation and air filtration measures to reduce virus particles in facilities. Davis said vaccinations alone won’t prevent the spread of the virus.

While on a stage in Eleuthera as supporters sat in their cars and blew horns, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said vaccinations are the only way out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minnis prided his government’s securement of nearly half a million doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

He dismissed Davis’ ability to lead the country in the middle of a pandemic, citing his “lousy” representation of Cat Island and San Salvador.

“Davis can only show plans of what could have been done (in Cat Island and San Salvador). He was deputy prime minister and minister of works. He did not use his power to help his people

“A lousy MP will make a lousy prime minister.”

As the general election loom, the political arena saw its first drive-in rally.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis addressed hundreds of supporters in Grand Bahama who stayed in or near their vehicles, to prevent the continued spread of COVID-19.

Despite its high cases of infection in the country, the Free National Movement found a new way to reach its supporters.   The party supporters waved pom-poms from their car windows, blew the car horns in support of their candidates, while others danced while social distancing from others.

Minnis touted his vaccination program stating that 11,000 more Bahamians were vaccinated between Monday and Friday.

He hit out at the Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party Philip Davis who has criticized his government’s COVID-19 policies to control the virus.

Minnis praised the “decisive leadership” of his government.

“Some other people played down the pandemic and the vaccine. They talked fool and voted against the Emergency Order. If Brave Davis was leading the country, we would be in much, much worse shape,” Minnis said.

“He and I are distinctly different. I wanted to save lives. He wanted to open the bars.”

Minnis added that he laughed when he saw the PLP’s slogan, ‘A New Day.’

“I bust out laughing when I heard that…He is a PLP from the dark days of the ’80s…Brave is no new day. Brave is yesterday’s news. He would take us back to the dark days.”

Last week, Davis said his party will postpone drive-in rallies to help battle the spread of the infectious disease.

The big story

Bahamians will head to the polls on September 16 in an early election called by Minnis. It comes at a time when the country is battling high deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

The government has launched its vaccination campaign to combat the further spread of the virus. Three vaccines are now available–AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.