WAITING IT OUT: Prime minister insists election not due until May 2022

WAITING IT OUT: Prime minister insists election not due until May 2022
(PHOTO: NIYAZZ VIA SHUTTERSTOCK)

Minnis: This is the final budget debate of this term

PM takes another jab at Cooper

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As he closed out his administration’s final budget debate of this term, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday once again insisted that the next general election is not due until May 2022.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Minnis, who announced sweeping changes to current coronavirus protocols and ongoing developments in the pipeline, noted the 2021/2022 budget debate will be the last national debate before the upcoming election and offered thanks to the entire government and the opposition.

The prime minister also took the opportunity to take a jab at Exumas and Ragged Island MP and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader Chester Cooper.

Throughout his tenure, Minnis continually jested that Cooper double-crossed the Free National Movement (FNM) in the run-up to the 2017 General Election after being given the nod to run on the FNM’s ticket in the Exumas and Ragged Island constituency.

Referencing last week’s sitting, when a shouting match erupted between Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis and Carmichael MP Desmond Bannister, Minnis accused Cooper of being disloyal.

He said while Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin attempted to defend Davis, Cooper did not do the same.

“I have been taught that on a ship, the captain and the first mate must always remain,” he said.

“Exumas and Ragged Island has demonstrated no loyalty to his leader.

“But I am not surprised because he demonstrated no loyalty to me. He was my candidate for Exuma and I looked on the TV and I saw him walking in a yellow shirt. I was more than shocked. He abandoned me.”

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis holds up a “Roc’ with Doc” shirt in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Minnis then took out a “Roc’ with Doc” FNM shirt and told Cooper that he kept the shirt that belonged to him.

“Do I keep your shirt until you return or do you want it now?” the prime minister joked.

Minnis has continually shut down speculations that he will call an early election and has previously indicated his administration will go the full term before calling an election sometime in May 2022.

Various centers have been opened for expanded voter registration exercises on New Providence and Grand Bahama, including for individuals who are not on the 2017 register or who may need to make an address transfer.

As of May, there were 131,743 voters registered on New Providence; 30,412 on Grand Bahama; and 28,002 on the Family Islands for a total of 190,157 registered voters to date.

There were 181,000 registered voters in the 2017 General Election, with a voter turnout of around 88 percent.

The government passed the Parliamentary Election (Amendment) Bill, 2020, in December, which made the voters’ register from the last general election in The Bahamas a continuous or permanent register.

Only Bahamians who are not on the 2017 voters register or who have moved to an address different from the one on their current voter’s card need to visit a Parliamentary Registration Centre to register or transfer their registration to a new polling division and constituency where they now reside.

In preparation for the next general election, the government has allocated $4,700,020 in the 2021/2022 fiscal year for the Parliamentary Registration Department.

About Sloan Smith

Sloan Smith is a senior digital reporter at Eyewitness News, covering a diverse range of beats, from politics and crime to environment and human interest. In 2018, Sloan received a nomination for the “Leslie Higgs Feature Writer of The Year Award” from The Bahamas Press Club for her work with Eyewitness News.