NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Davis administration hit its first 100 days in office over the weekend after a crushing defeat of the Free National Movement (FNM) at the September 16 polls.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) swept the General Election, securing 32 of the 39 seats and nearly reversing the FNM’s 2017 sweep.
The PLP got 53 percent of the vote, with the FNM getting 35 percent, though officials reported a record low 65 percent voter turnout — over 126,000 voted of the 194,000-plus registered voters.
However, fresh on the heels of the polls, the new administration was met with a downgrade by global credit rating agency Moody’s.
The country’s sovereign ratings have been downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2, highlighting the daunting economic and fiscal realities facing the nation and the new Davis-led administration.
During its first three months in office, the new administration has been moving quickly to continue juggling the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggling economy, with cases now seeing a rapid increase amidst the discovery of the new omicron variant.
Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis began his tenure on September 17 by extending the country’s curfew to 11.59pm for the first time since The Bahamas was placed under a state of emergency in March 2020.
The state of emergency, which officially came to an end on November 13, was replaced by new legislation — the Health Services (COVID-19)(General) Rules, 2021 — mandating similar health protocols under a statutory framework.
Several of the government’s decisions and actions have come under fire, with the prime minister’s decision to appoint a “Gussie Mae Cabinet” seeing the administration’s first real hit.
Davis doled out 22 appointments, inclusive of himself and his deputy prime minister, Chester Cooper, with an additional seven parliamentary secretary titles that effectively reduced his backbench to three members.
More than 1,700 supporters, dignitaries, civil society stakeholders, religious leaders, parliamentarians and other government officials attended a lavish Opening of Parliament at Baha Mar as the new administration laid out its agenda for The Bahamas over the next five years.
The government’s Speech from the Throne, delivered by Governor General CA Smith, outlined several key aspects of the Davis administration’s mandate and a commitment to executing good governance, established on the principles of transparency, integrity and accountability.
Among the 94 legislative and policy pledges made in the speech were plans to reduce the nation’s value-added tax (VAT) from 12 percent to 10 percent; stabilize public finances and increase public revenue with a debt management plan; amend both the Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act; increase the minimum wage, pension for senior citizens, benefits for persons with disabilities; and introduce tax incentives and concessions for domestic investors.
To date, the cost of the opening has yet to be released.
With Cabinet ministers appointed and assimilating themselves within their respective ministries, the administration launched widespread reviews of the previous government’s work and has since placed several government agencies and corporations under investigation.
The Ministry of Public Service also temporarily paused hires and promotions carried out under the former administration in the lead-up to the election.
The government’s supplementary budget increased the allocation for social assistance benefits by nearly $37 million and the allocation for pension and gratuities by nearly $20 million.
The revised budget slashed the allocations of several ministries, most notably the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction by more than $7 million respectively.
Davis noted that the government’s plan will not increase the deficit but reprioritizes unnecessary budgeted expenditures to areas where they are most needed, restores the fiscal health of the country over the medium-term and ensures that the government continues to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable in society.
Since coming to office, the Davis administration has already fulfilled several campaign promises, including the removal of the curfew and state of emergency; the end of travel health visa for Bahamians domestically and internationally; a reduction in VAT to 10 percent; and the passing of the Merchant Shipping Bill.
However, just as the country began a course to experience a “rapid rebound” in tourist arrivals to pre-pandemic levels, a new COVID-19 variant was identified and quickly spread globally, becoming the dominant strain in the United States.
The PLP’s COVID-19 action plan outlines 10 initiatives in which the Davis administration would seek to address testing, tracing, isolation, treatment, protection of frontline workers, education of the public and ventilation of indoor spaces.
The plan also outlined initiatives to build trust by expanding the competent authority to include a range of experts, as well as providing economic support for Bahamians.
That role has now been replaced by the Minister of Health and a COVID-19 advisory committee under the new health rules.
In October, the government launched free COVID-19 antigen testing on several Family Islands as islands such as Eleuthera, Mayaguana, Inagua, Long Island and San Salvador began seeing significant increases in infections and deaths.
On the government’s 100th day in office on Christmas Day, 330 cases were confirmed, taking the number of cases in the country to 23,960.
In a statement on the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, Heath Minister Dr Michael Darville advised that the government will announce details for the rollout of free COVID-19 testing on New Providence and will also provide details regarding the distribution of free medical-grade masks.
During a press conference last week, Davis was speaking from isolation after his wife Ann Marie, and several other relatives contracted COVID-19 following a family gathering last weekend that included several relatives from abroad.
He was quarantined as a result and out of caution, but said after multiple tests he remained negative.
The prime minister warned that the country could be headed for the worst phase of the pandemic and announced new COVID-19 rules that will see stricter measures at the borders and for social gatherings.
With less than three days left in 2021, along with ongoing mitigation of the lingering pandemic, the Davis administration will move forward into the new year to focus on additional key policy initiatives promised in the lead-up to the general election and outlined in the Speech from the Throne.
These include the sovereign wealth fund legislation; carbon credit regulation; legislation to regulate the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) and other agriculture developments; financial management amendments; cannabis legislation; and anti-corruption reform.
Loading ...
