Honestly I think people trying to box this by-election into the historical pattern are failing to account for the fact that Bahamian elections are fundamentally different now.

1.) Coalition is sticking around and it's up in the air who they are going to pull more votes from. The 3rd party dynamic is going to be a lasting (and growing) factor going forward in Bahamian elections as long as the two main parties continue to promote lacklustre candidates and leadership.

2.) Last general election had the lowest turnout ever and I doubt it will improve much if at all in the next one. Voter apathy is very high and no telling which of the main parties is more politically apathetic at this point.

Besides the seat is a swing seat and the incumbent representation was lacklustre. I would not be surprised if the FNM wins at and neither would I be surprised if the PLP wins it. Tbh I wouldn't really be surprised if Coalition wins it either. Things are just different now and the old 2 party high turnout calculus isn't going to apply going forward. Honestly there are some parallels with the 2010 Elizabeth by-election and we all saw how that one turned out. Wouldn't be surprised at a repeat of that.

Is there going to be a digital copy available?

Historically valuable but niche works like these should be digitized considering the usually limited availability. It's priceless knowledge and should always be available for future generations long after the hard covers have disappeared or faded away.

> The Tribune understands that deportation flights from the United States carrying Caribbean nationals arrive in New Providence roughly every other week, often with little notice.

This needs to be addressed if it's really happening. If Bahamians are doing foolishness in the US fine kick them out but it's not our problem or responsibility to deal with any other "Caribbean nationals". Ship the "Caribbean nationals" to the places they belong, don't expect us to do your job for you.

Why move on right before a general election? Ingraham had his chances, Minnis had his chances, and it's only fair Pintard has his chance. He gets blown out fine move on and replace him as leader but it makes zero sense for the FNM to make any big changes in leadership at the moment. Besides its not like the FNM is filled to the brim with viable replacements anyways.

> no governing party has ever lost a by-election

This is inaccurate, the FNM lost the 2010 Elizabeth by-election albeit it was by a razor thin contested margin with a PLP incumbent.

Real. None of these gubermints since Ingraham have given a shit about Abaco and it really shows. I have thought several times about taking pictures of the literal craters on our highway and sending them into the Tribune. It is disgusting and insulting that we have to put up with this BS despite how much revenue we generate. The thing is none of us are asking for the gubermint to do anything but their jobs; Abaco has clawed its way out of the aftermath of Dorian to become even bigger than before with minimal gubermint assistance, and its like these gubermints can't even meet us halfway and provide the most basic of services they are responsible for. I am sick of potholes (craters) damaging my (and other people's) vehicles, hours long power outages every summer, BPHell burning up my appliances while paying ludicrous bills, lack of necessary amount of police, out of control immigration issues, etc. Conians try hard to pull our weight in this country and its just like the gubermint doesn't give a rats ass about us other than when it comes time to collect tax money to fund whatever stupid BS scheme they are concocting at that moment.

Any Conian what votes for the FNM or PHellP is either a masochist or a too low IQ to even be voting. CoI or independence are honestly our only two hopes of things ever improving on this island.

Goes to show you can never get too comfortable in business, always have to be thinking two steps ahead. Cable got comfortable and fumbled the bag really hard.

I generally agree but would add two further points:

1.) Given that what is most likely going to be a hotly contested general election is a year or less away and this seat is irrelevant to the balance of power in Parliament, the FNM is ultimately wasting money bothering to contest the seat. Mind you unlike the West GB & Bimini seat there is a very good chance they carry the seat given the dissatisfaction with the former incumbent and the fact that its a swing seat but is it really prudent for them to spend a bunch of money to win an irrelevant seat when there is going to be a general election in the near future anyways? Sure if they win it will generate hype for the campaign but still one has to think it's not the most prudent use of resources.

2.) In the event that they do win the seat, incumbency is a huge disadvantage in modern Bahamian politics. Mind you I think this upcoming election will be much more unpredictable and dynamic than 17' or 21' because the CoI is a legitimate contender and it's no telling how much they will drain from both the FNM and PLP but the point remains that incumbents generally haven't fared well in modern Bahamian politics contrary to what general political wisdom tells you. Its not a major factor but something to think about as well.

>free will

This is the reason I don't take the pro-numbers crowd seriously, regardless of free will the fact is the Bahamian people voted against legalization. To disrespect the Bahamian voter's voice by doing the exact opposite of what they voted for is quite frankly criminal. The moral arguments surrounding numbers are all frankly irrelevant, the facts are that the Christie admin violated the Bahamian voters and practically laundered millions in dirty money clean overnight. What example does that set for the youth? Break the law and you can get away with and even go "legitimate" as long as you make enough "donations" to the right people?

Fr. I want to know how these bills end up so high and current goes off for hours at a time lol. The electrical prices we get charged compared the level of service we receive has to be the absolute worst worldwide.