By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis taunted the Free National Movement during a Progressive Liberal Party meeting last night, highlighting Dr Hubert Minnis’ continued outsider status in a party he once led.

Dr Minnis told reporters this week that his party’s leaders have not “tapped” him on his shoulder, a cheeky reference to Michael Pintard’s comment that people who have participated in the party’s mandatory training session have been tapped to build support in constituencies.

While addressing PLP supporters in Pinewood last night, Mr Davis painted the FNM as fractured and ineffectual.

“Poor Minnis say nobody tapped him on the shoulder,” he said. “Well, PLPs, let me tell you — he might be waiting a long time for that tap because it looks like they’re tapping everybody except him!

“Imagine, their former leader, the man who they paraded around as their standard-bearer, can’t even make it through their training sessions. Training sessions!

“You mean to tell me that Minnis, who was Prime Minister just a few years ago, now needs to sit in class to learn how to run?”

Mr Davis also touted what he called progress in infrastructure development, economic reform, and efforts to lower the cost of living. 

“We’re building hospitals, raising wages, promoting workers, and delivering results for the Bahamian people,” he said. 

He highlighted initiatives to ease financial pressures on Bahamians, including reducing VAT on essential goods, overhauling the energy sector to lower electricity prices, and diversifying supply chains by importing goods directly from countries like Brazil. 

“The same beef and other products that we currently buy from the United States, we’re going to make it easier to bring them in directly from Brazil or wherever, and cut out the middleman,” he said.

“We’re going to stop unfair business practices that make it hard for new businesses to succeed.”

He urged PLP members to remain united, emphasising the importance of solidarity as the party heads into what he described as a pivotal election.

He accused the opposition of being silent on the issue of monopolies and failing to prioritise the economic well-being of ordinary Bahamians. He suggested, without evidence, that the FNM’s failure to comment or address these issues is tied to their financial backers. 

He framed the PLP as the only party capable of driving meaningful reform and delivering a more equitable economy.

“Change is coming,” he promised, adding that lower prices and increased competition would benefit all Bahamians, not just a select few.

“If one person or one set of people own everything, all the time, then they can charge what they like.”