NASSAU, BAHAMAS – BY: Jayson “Jayce” Braynen: In a political landscape where promises of inclusion are often made but seldom kept, Michael Pintard has already proven to be a man of his word. With 28 candidates already ratified and 11 more yet to be named, the FNM has already set a new internal record for the number of women nominated.
This development is not a radical reinvention, but it suggests a deliberate effort by the party’s new sheriff to restore and expand a legacy that once made the FNM the standard-bearer for women’s advancement in Bahamian politics.
That legacy includes electing the country’s first woman MP, Janet Bostwick, the first female Speaker of the House, Italia Johnson, the first woman Governor General, Dame Ivy Dumont, and—albeit controversially—the first woman to serve as Leader of the Official Opposition, Loretta Butler-Turner.
But the momentum stalled in the Minnis era, which fielded only four female candidates in 2017. Although all four were elected, the party only marginally improved its numbers in 2021, with seven women out of 39 candidates.
Pintard has reversed that decline. So far, 11 of the 28 ratified candidates are women, surpassing every previous election cycle. That’s nearly 40 percent.
Promisingly, with the exception of party veteran Heather Hunt, all of these women are first-time FNM candidates. They include a cross-section of professions: educators (Terrece Bootle, Frazette Gibson), attorneys (Heather Hunt, Arinthia Komolafe, Michela Barnett-Ellis), a mortician (Denalee Penn-Mackey), business owners (Heather McDonald, Trevania Clarke-Hall), local government leaders (Philippa Kelly, Debra Moxey-Rolle) and a medical doctor (Dr. Jacqueline
Penn-Knowles).
It’s a deliberate shift in philosophy that Pintard has articulated both in word and deed.
“The FNM has a proud tradition of ensuring that talented Bahamians are strategically placed, and talented women are strategically placed,” Pintard said at a press conference in July 2025. “We had a fall off the last time we were in government, but I assure you that is being corrected”.
That correction means a party that looks more like the country it seeks to govern. Women make up the majority of the Bahamian electorate and shoulder much of the burden in family, business, and community life. Their underrepresentation in public office has long been a disconnect.
Pintard’s slate offers a glimpse into a new chapter. Compare the current 11 of 28 candidates to the party’s previous high watermark in 2002, 2007, and 2012, when the FNM nominated nine women. At the close of 2025, the FNM has already blown past that with more than a quarter of the slate yet to be revealed.
Indeed, the “generational shift in leadership” Pintard often ascribes to his tenure is materializing. We should give credit where it’s due.
Under new management, the FNM is once again positioning itself as the party unafraid to change the face of Bahamian politics.
