Prime Minister Philip Davis has set an early election in the Bahamas for May 12, saying the government will dissolve parliament on April 8 and formally call the vote on April 9. The election was originally not due until mid-October.
The announcement coincided with a government decision to remove a value-added tax on unprepared grocery items. Officials framed the tax change as a measure intended to ease pressure on households contending with a cost of living that Numbeo ranks as the world’s sixth highest.
In a public statement accompanying the election timetable, Davis asked citizens to keep unity in mind during the campaign. "As we move through this election season, I ask every Bahamian to remember one simple truth: wherever we may fall politically, we all love this country," he said.
The forthcoming vote will follow a political shift at the last general election in September 2021, when Davis’ Progressive Liberal Party defeated the then-governing Free National Movement. The May contest is expected to be fought predominantly between those two major parties, the Progressive Liberal Party and the Free National Movement.
Observers note a smaller political group, the Coalition of Independents, has recently attracted attention and will participate in the race. Historically, no prime minister of an independent Bahamas has been elected from a third party, and the last time a sitting prime minister won re-election was in 1997.
What is clear from the government’s sequence of announcements is that election timing and targeted fiscal relief for food purchases are central to the current political narrative. The decision to remove VAT on unprepared grocery items was presented as an immediate measure to help households facing elevated living costs as measured by third-party cost-of-living comparisons.
The short campaign window created by the April dissolution and May 12 election date will compress political activity and messaging between the main parties and the smaller Coalition of Independents. The combination of the tax change and the accelerated election timeline sets the framework for how parties will present their priorities to voters over the coming weeks.