Having exhausted ideas, Prime Minister Philip Davis has once again returned to the political tool that seems to work best for him and his New Day Progressive Liberal Party (PLP): fear.

Taking to the campaign stage, Prime Minister Davis demanded that the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Michael Pintard, “come clean” about what a Free National Movement (FNM) government would allegedly do to public servants if elected. He went further, challenging Pintard to “be a man and just say it” if the plan is to send workers home.

There was, however, one small problem — no evidence was presented. No policy document. No statement from the Opposition. No historical precedent cited. Just accusation.

This is not leadership; it is fearmongering.

The Prime Minister is deliberately tapping into the most basic and legitimate anxiety of working Bahamians — the fear of losing one’s job, being unable to feed a family, and falling behind on bills. And he is doing so without substantiation, revealing a willingness to say whatever is necessary to win an election, accountability be damned.

We have seen this movie before.

In the run-up to the last general election, the PLP repeatedly suggested that if the FNM were re-elected, The Bahamas would be locked down again. This claim was made despite the fact that, at the time, the country was already reopening, global travel was resuming, and no policy statement existed indicating an intention to reverse course. It was speculation masquerading as certainty — fear dressed up as foresight.

Now, once again, ghost stories are being dusted off — this time warning of mass firings of public servants should the FNM win office.

Then there is the government’s much-touted elimination of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on non-cooked food items. Using the government’s own figures, independent calculations by economists and civic commentators show that the average household savings amount to approximately eleven dollars ($11) per year. Not per month. Per year.

Instead of engaging honestly, coming clean, with these calculations, the Prime Minister and his administration have dismissed and attacked them, conceding only that the savings may indeed be minimal — but insisting that “a savings is a savings.” What they fail to acknowledge is that it was this very government that placed extraordinary financial strain on working Bahamians in the first place. Now, just months before a general election, they present themselves as rescuers from hardships of their own making as they did with the Bahamas, Power and Light (BPL) saga; which still goes unresolved.

So let this be said clearly: while Prime Minister Davis attempts to frighten public servants with unfounded claims that an FNM government would terminate their employment, the Opposition and its supporters remain focused on one objective — ending a government that governs by fear, distraction, and political theatrics instead of transparency and results.

The people of The Bahamas deserve better.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) fails for one reason; it is their nature and The Bahamas deserves better.

END