When Arinthia Komolafe was elected leader of third party Democratic National Alliance in 2017, after her party’s defeat in the General Election, the attorney and banker who became a household name, seemed like a sure thing for the 2021 general election. But her 2021 campaign was a nonstarter–averaging over 1 percent in the polls.
Komolafe who never held an elected office, resigned from her party in December 2021 and seemed to have vanished from the spotlight. That’s until she was seen at Free National Movement’s Eastern District Meeting on Monday night.

She made no declarations but her presence alone could mean a pivot for the FNM’s run in the next election. It’s likely she will contend for a seat.
When Komolafe resigned from her party she said she never intended to leave front-line politics and would consider an offer from a major party.
“Everything I do in my life, I have to pray and I have to meditate about it. For me, politics has always been a vehicle. It is a vehicle to bring forth a vision that I’ve been carrying for years — for where I feel this country should go and needs to be,” she said at the time.
“So, any decision I take in terms of frontline politics has to be an environment where I believe that vision is able to be brought to pass. I’m not just looking to be a politician. I could’ve done that long time.”
As DNA member and leader, Komolafe said she was propositioned by both major parties but she declined. “The fact of the matter is I was too deep in. I had done too much work and I thought the organization deserved a fighting chance and the reality is based on my morals and ethics as a captain. I could not abandon ship though the storms were raging.”
Third parties are bound to fail in the Bahamas and the DNA suffered that fate miserably though voters vented their anger at the governing party and condemned the country’s two-party system.
Komolafe acknowledged at her resignation, the failings of third parties like the DNA and believed if she was on the ticket of a major party, she would have already been elected as a member of parliament.
As a third party, most of her gripes were directed at then Prime Minister Hubert Minnis whom she referred to as ‘Pharoah’ because of his ‘draconian’ approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Michael Pintard at the helm of the FNM party, Komolafe seems content to follow his lead and will likely be a contender in the next general election, converting swing voters to FNM gains.