NASSAU, Bahamas – The ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) maintained its significant majority in the Parliament after its candidate, Darron Pickstock, won the Golden Isles by-election on Monday.
PLP victorious candidate in the by-election, Darron Pickstock, thanking supporters for his victory on MondayPickstock, who defeated the candidate of the Free National Movement (FNM), Brian Brown, secured 1,873 votes as against 1,636 votes for Brown. The Coalition of Independents, (COI), candidate Brian Rolle received 348 votes; while the independent candidate Karen Butler received 16 votes.
“Thank you, Golden Isles, for lifting me up. Thank you for seeing me. Golden Isles, you didn’t just give me a seat, you gave me your trust. And I understand that trust comes through consistency and doing what you say that you are going to do, and I will do just that,” said Pickstock, praising former Golden Isles legislator Vaughn Miller, who died suddenly in September.
In the last general election, the PLP won 32 of the 39 seats and Prime Minister Philip Davis told supporters that the PLP is unstoppable.
“I just want to say tonight, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out,” he said, adding “as we said from the beginning, it ain’t long now.
“As we prepare ourselves for the next step, let us go back to our constituencies and start our work. We must take nothing for granted. We are progressive. We have done a lot as a party, but there is still a lot more to do,” he added.
COI leader Lincoln Bain said he does not believe the outcome of the by-election is indicative of what will happen during the general election.
“I think that more people are going to vote when it actually counts,” he said, adding that “people won’t waste their time if they feel like nothing is going to change, the government is still going to be the government, and election is in a few months.”
Bain said the COI will canvas the entire country as it continues to prepare for the next general election.
