A1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Was the current head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
The Bahamas is governed under a parliamentary system, and a mostly ceremonial governor-general is appointed by the British monarch as head of state.
The prime minister is head of government and is appointed by the governor-general; the office is usually held by the leader of the largest party in Parliament or the head of a parliamentary coalition. In September 2021, Philip Davis became prime minister after the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won that month’s parliamentary election.
A2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Were the current national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
Members of the lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament, the 39-member House of Assembly, are directly elected to five-year terms. The 16 members of the Senate are appointed for five-year terms by the governor-general based on recommendations made by the prime minister and the opposition leader.
The PLP won 32 House of Assembly seats in the September 2021 elections, defeating the ruling Free National Movement (FNM). The Coalition of Independents and the Democratic National Alliance respectively won over 6 and 1 percent of the vote but won no seats. Turnout stood at 65 percent, a relatively low figure. Organization of American States (OAS) monitors praised the electoral process and COVID-19-related protocols.
A3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are the electoral laws and framework fair, and are they implemented impartially by the relevant election management bodies? | 4.004 4.004 |
The electoral process is regulated by the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA) and generally well managed by the Parliamentary Registration Department. The parliamentary commissioner heads the department and is appointed by the governor-general acting on the recommendation of the prime minister after consultation with the opposition leader.
After the PEA was amended in 2020, electoral authorities implemented a continuous voter register, which was used in the 2021 polls. In its postelectoral report, the OAS warned that individuals who were not included in the 2017 voter list or who did not register by the August 2021 election announcement may have been disenfranchised. The OAS reiterated prior calls to digitize voter registration and issue campaign-finance regulations.
B1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system free of undue obstacles to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings? | 4.004 4.004 |
Political parties organize freely and operate unhindered. However, as electoral financing is not regulated, there is no legal obligation to disclose funding sources and no limit on campaign spending.
B2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
Opposition parties operate without undue interference. Political power has alternated between the PLP and the FNM since the country achieved independence in 1973.
B3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are the people’s political choices free from domination by forces that are external to the political sphere, or by political forces that employ extrapolitical means? | 4.004 4.004 |
Voters and candidates are generally able to exercise their political choices freely. However, a lack of campaign-finance regulations leaves open avenues for the outsized role of money in politics.
B4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, racial, religious, gender, LGBT+, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoral opportunities? | 4.004 4.004 |
Only citizens may vote, and protracted citizenship and naturalization proceedings make achieving citizenship difficult for children born in The Bahamas to foreign parents. This predominantly affects children of Haitian immigrants.
Women are politically underrepresented. In its 2021 postelectoral report, the OAS noted that women do not often seek office, in part due to “gendered perceptions of politics” and social pressure. The OAS nevertheless noted an increase in women candidates. Seven women won House of Assembly seats. Four women were appointed to the Senate. Women additionally serve as speakers of both houses.
Openly LGBT+ people are not overtly represented in politics.
C1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government? | 4.004 4.004 |
Freely elected officials are generally unhindered in determining policy.
C2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective? | 3.003 4.004 |
Anticorruption mechanisms are relatively weak. There is no agency specifically empowered to handle allegations of government corruption. Rates of reporting corruption are low, as whistleblowers fear retaliation. The PLP vowed to establish an independent anticorruption body and an ombudsman after taking power but did not do so by the end of 2022.
In June 2022, FNM parliamentarian Adrian Gibson was charged with abuse of power while he served as chairman of the WSC. Gibson had stepped down as chairman in 2021 after facing allegations of misconduct. His trial is expected to begin in 2023.
C3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the government operate with openness and transparency? | 3.003 4.004 |
Government procurement processes lack transparency, and political parties and campaigns are not required to disclose their finances. Legislators and other high-ranking public officials must disclose their income and assets annually under the Public Disclosure Act but often fail to submit the required information on time, without penalty.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2019 aims to improve transparency of public-sector spending. The FRA created an independent oversight and enforcement body, the Fiscal Responsibility Council. The Public Procurement Act (PPA), which is meant to ensure transparency in government contracts, took effect in 2021. In October 2022, Prime Minister Davis tabled a new bill to replace the PPA, calling it “deficient.”
The Bahamian government faced criticism over the collapse of FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange that filed for bankruptcy in the United States in November 2022. FTX collapsed after a press report suggested that chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried used FTX’s cryptocurrency as collateral in other loans, prompting customers to withdraw from the exchange. In early November, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) called on the national police to investigate FTX over concerns that it was mismanaging assets in a manner that amounted to a crime. In December, the SCB disclosed that it had seized FTX assets worth $3.5 billion in November and said it would return those assets to creditors and customers. The firm’s lawyers accused Bahamian regulators of colluding with Bankman-Fried to impact bankruptcy proceedings. The government in Nassau, meanwhile, vehemently objected to criticism of its conduct regarding FTX.
