By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AFTER years of silence, the Democratic National Alliance has announced its return, saying it will regroup, reorganise and elect new officers at a convention.

“The DNA is back by popular demand,” the party said yesterday in a statement. “Not only are we here for now, but we are here for the future and forever.”

The declaration comes nearly four years after former leader Arinthia Komolafe resigned, citing the heavy financial and personal strain of trying to sustain a third party. At the time, she admitted to spending six-figure sums of her own money to keep the party afloat and described third-party politics in The Bahamas as “brutal and extremely difficult”.

Her departure left the organisation adrift, with little public activity since the 2021 general election.

The party, founded on May 12, 2011, made an early mark by winning 8.48 percent of the popular vote in the 2012 general election — 13,225 votes — a high-water mark for third parties in modern Bahamian politics. It contested the 2017 and 2021 elections but has struggled to maintain momentum.

In its message, the DNA said Bahamians are tired of the same political choices and want lower living costs, less corruption, less crime, more jobs and greater accountability. The party said it intends to put forward “pragmatic, rational, realistic, intelligent and fact-based solutions” and would take a more activist approach than before.

The group also touched on wider social debates, warning that “normal standards are under attack” and that “Christian values that our constitution is based on is now a mockery”.

The DNA said its convention will be the next step in relaunching, promising that its presence will be felt once again in national life under the banner “Light the Way”.