Dear Editor,

In 2012, amid much excitement and fanfare, the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), led by Branville McCartney, entered the race to become the government of The Bahamas. They did not win the government, nor any seats, but many say that their presence played a pivotal role in the election's outcome.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), led by Perry Christie, won the government by a slim margin, albeit they won 29 of the 38 seats. By closely analyzing the number of votes cast, we can infer that the DNA changed the outcome of many of the constituency races. There are a lot of upset Bahamians, even today, who believe that the DNA inadvertently helped the PLP to win the 2012 general election.
Fast forward to the 2017 general election and the results paint a totally different picture. FNM candidates obliterated their incumbent PLP adversaries and all the other candidates combined. It was a total beat down. In 2012 if you combined the FNM and DNA votes, many constituencies would have totalled more votes than the PLP. In 2017, if you added the PLP and DNA votes, the outcome of the election would still have been the same.
The DNA received about 50 percent less votes in 2017 than in 2012. They had a perfect opportunity, in my view, to gain more supporters. The then governing PLP party was riddled with scandals and the FNM was in a long, bitter and bloody public battle to secure the party's leadership.
A costly mistake the DNA made was when McCartney accepted a Senate post from Loretta Butler-Turner, who had recently wrestled the title of Leader of the Opposition from Dr. Hubert Minnis. This caused many Bahamians to look at the DNA differently, and I felt that this would cost them a lot of votes in the general election. It probably did.
Minnis and the FNM have essentially forced Christie into retirement. But there should be others. McCartney should also do the honourable thing and resign as DNA leader. He has been rejected in two consecutive general elections.
The people have placed overwhelming confidence in the FNM to govern this country, but we still need effective opposing forces.
The DNA played no significant role in the 2017 general election. If they are to return to relevancy, they must start the rebuilding process quickly.

- Dehavilland Moss

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