NASSAU, Bahamas – The leader of the main opposition Free National Movement (FNM), Michael Pintard, says he has written to international organisations, including the United Nations, urging them to send observers to the May 12 general elections.
FNM leader, Michael Pintard“Given the gravity of what is now before our country, the Free National Movement has written on April 8 to the United States Ambassador to The Bahamas, to the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and CARICOM formally requesting election observation support for the coming Bahamian election,” Pintard told a news conference.
Pintard told reporters that the US Embassy has already agreed to participate as observers, adding “a free and fair election is a basic democratic right (and) we will pursue every legitimate avenue to achieve it”.
The FNM leader said that a foreign national, whom he did not identify, was allegedly found with two Bahamian voter’s cards and that the matter had been reported to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
He said this incident is part of a series of confirmed issues that the party has previously raised with the Parliamentary Registration Department and publicly addressed.
Pintard has also been raising concerns about fraud and that last month he told Parliament that the names of eight people found with fraudulent Bahamian identification documents were also on the voter register.
But while Prime Minister Philip Davis told Parliament that he is “seeing issues too,” there are guardrails in law to address any such concerns.
Last week, the Parliamentary Commission Harrison Thompson said more than 130 candidates have been nominated to contest the 41 constituencies.
The OAS has observed the last three general elections in The Bahamas.
On the September 16, 2021 general elections, Davis led the then opposition PLP to a convincing victory over the then ruling FNM, winning 32 of the 39 seats in the Parliament.
