By Malcolm Strachan

ELECTION, election, election – it’s been the talk of the past week with candidates being named and others jockeying for position. But one particular news story may mean all those hopefuls will have to keep waiting a little longer before the voters have their say.

The government’s clash with some unions over recent weeks ought to give pause in the corridors of power over whether to go for an early election or not.

Last week, The Tribune printed two photographs, separated by a week, one with Prime Minister Philip Davis smiling alongside protesting union leaders outside Parliament, the other with him doing anything he could to avoid looking Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson in the eye.

What made him go from grinning up beside her the week before to not having the time of day a week later?

Well, the union leader had talked of a national strike and suddenly off the table went the discussions and no more smiles and promises of getting people paid from the prime minister.

The trouble is, Mr Davis had already promised those marching public servants the week before: “You will be paid before Christmas.”

If that felt like the prime minister was buying off unhappy workers, we should all remember something else – that’s our money. That’s public money.

If it’s right and appropriate for those workers to get pay raises, all well and good. But if this is all about trying to make sure people get straight before a general election, then I’m sure more than a few Bahamians will have an issue with how the public purse is being used.

In the wake of that first meeting, PLP operatives and supporters were pushing a message around on social media about how “when other leaders ran, Brave walked towards the people”.

It said: “In the past, leaders used to hide when workers protested. Today, Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis faced the people directly. He walked among them, heard them out, and spoke with honesty. That is leadership.”

It added: “In the middle of hundreds of protesters near Rawson Square, he stood his ground and spoke directly to them. He did not hide behind barricades or issue statements from a distance.”

If that sounded hollow at the time, it turned out it was completely bankrupt a week later,

when issuing statements from a distance – indeed, on the national airwaves – was exactly what Mr Davis did, while giving the BUT chief the cold shoulder outside Parliament.

The turnout for the protest in Rawson Square was not huge – but about a third of teachers stayed home from school that day too.

Now, the issues behind all this and the resolution that may eventually be found to that are another matter. What is clear is that all is not well and happy in the electorate.

Mr Davis also had the remarkable cheek to warn unions to stay away from politics.

He said: “Be careful who you let stand beside you. Don’t let political parties use you as pawns. Not everyone marching with you means you well.”

That is not the tune he was singing in 2021 ahead of the previous election. He was issuing a photograph of him shaking hands with union leaders after the signing of a memorandum of understanding committing the PLP to ensuring that long-standing union issues were resolved.

At the time, Trade Union Congress president Obie Ferguson said: “In 20 something days we will have a new government and let me assure you we will go to every church in this island, every church in The Bahamas will know the programme that we have agreed in principle with the Progressive Liberal Party, and we will ask them to tell their parishioners this is the way to go.”

There was not a whisper from Mr Davis about unions staying away from politics then.

The message is clear – only get involved with politics when it’s good for Mr Davis.

That he feels the need to comment on that, however, shows that all is not well for the PLP and its hopes for the next election.

Last week, the party ratified its first wave of candidates – including Sebas Bastian, the gaming businessman. “Money reach,” as a few people I know said about his selection.

But as those were announced, Mr Davis also put to bed all thoughts that the party might skip the by-election and go straight to a general. He declared there would be a by-election in Golden Isles.

This was expected – but there had been a discussion, prompted in part by the FNM who had everything to gain from such a move, that there could perhaps be an earlier call than expected.

The ructions with the unions has certainly stopped people talking about that.

It is not just those unions, though. A report also came out showing how inflation is hitting middle managers hard in the pocket. Breaking news, it’s hit- ting us all in the pocket.

People will often vote with their pockets, and there are enough people hurting one way or another to make the government give pause.

Worse, there are people hurting while looking at figures inside government seemingly doing very well indeed. Financial Secretary Simon Wilson is one of those to get a substantial increase in the latest salary review, along with others at his level. There is still the concern over the Bahamas Moorings deal that seemed to feather the nest of those close to power. And there are plenty of other issues that have made people feel, as Mrs Wilson said during the protest, that “they are lining their pockets” while doing nothing for the small man.

So if an early date had been pencilled in for a general election, it may just be getting erased right now. There are too many issues that need to be resolved before the PLP asks the people to give it another term for the party to be confident of the outcome.

All of this leads us back to the by-election that the prime minister says will be held.

The outcome of that will be telling indeed. Anything short of a strong PLP victory, I would venture, means we will be waiting until full term for the party to go to the electorate.