Bahamas heads for early election on May 12

By Jasper Ward

April ‌1 (Reuters) - Voters ​will ​head to the polls in the Bahamas for an early election on May 12, ‌the prime minister said on Wednesday, as the ⁠Caribbean nation battles affordability issues.

The announcement came the day the ‌government scrapped a value-added ‌tax on unprepared grocery items to help ease a cost of living ranked as the world's sixth ​highest by statistics site Numbeo.

Prime Minister Philip Davis said he would dissolve parliament on April ⁠8 and formally call the election the following day. An election had ​not been due until mid-October.

"As we move through this election season, I ask every ​Bahamian to remember one simple truth: ‌wherever we may fall politically, we all love this country," Davis said in ⁠a statement.

At the last election in September 2021, Davis' Progressive Liberal Party ousted the then governing Free National ⁠Movement.

The May election is expected to be a contest mainly between ​the two main parties, the PLP and the FNM, though a smaller third party, the Coalition of Independents, which has ‌recently drawn attention, will also be in the fray.

No prime minister of an ‌independent Bahamas has ever been elected from a ⁠third party, and the ‌last time a ​prime minister was reelected was in 1997.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Clarence ‌Fernandez)

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