By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

AMID speculation about an early election, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday did not rule it out but stressed that such a move is not imminent.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, he said the date “is here in my heart” and will be announced at the appropriate time. When asked, he neither confirmed nor denied any early election move. 

He emphasised that his administration still has significant work to complete before sending voters to the polls.

“I’m hearing the talk of early election,” Prime Minister Davis said yesterday, “but we have a lot of work to do, and we are executing our work, and I have still a number of things to get started before I call an election and when they get started and on the way, then you can say election is imminent but it’s not imminent now.”

Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Michael Pintard recently claimed—without offering evidence—that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is planning to call an early election, possibly as soon as September.

The claim was dismissed by PLP chairman Fred Mitchell, who said no such decision is currently under consideration.

Yesterday, Mr Davis did not confirm whether the election will be held within the prescribed timeframe, which is due next year.

However, he added: “When the election will be called is here in my heart and I’ll let that be known at the appropriate time.”

Mr Mitchell also recently reaffirmed the Davis administration’s intention to serve its full five-year term.

“To my knowledge, that is the 10th of October 2021, when the House met for the first time. So the time when the mandate runs out, the Constitution says that it stands dissolved, if not dissolved earlier, on the 10th of October 2026,” he said.

The PLP chairman also rejected calls for fixed election dates, noting that such changes would require constitutional amendments.

“At this point, no one is contemplating going back to the country with a referendum on any issues of that nature,” he said. “Fixed dates of election, while it sounds nice, are not possible within the present system.”

The last snap election was held in September 2021, resulting in a PLP victory with 32 seats. The Free National Movement won seven seats in the House of Assembly.