Contribution comes weeks after Opposition Leader parroted Port Authority’s talking points on arbitration ruling
Nassau, Bahamas
The Grand Bahama Port Authority has committed $2 million toward the Free National Movement’s re-election campaign, according to sources with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The commitment, which has been confirmed to The Bahamas Herald by multiple sources, comes just weeks after Opposition Leader Michael Pintard publicly echoed the GBPA’s characterisation of the arbitration ruling — describing the outcome as a defeat for the Government, while making no mention of the Tribunal’s findings that went against the Port Authority.
The timing of the financial commitment has raised immediate questions about the relationship between the FNM leadership and the GBPA’s owning families, and whether Pintard’s public posture on the arbitration was shaped by political obligations rather than an independent reading of the 139-page ruling.
Neither the GBPA nor the FNM’s national headquarters responded to requests for comment prior to publication.
The contribution represents a significant injection of private corporate funds into the upcoming electoral cycle, and is likely to intensify scrutiny of campaign financing transparency in The Bahamas.
The $2 million commitment was reportedly confirmed in the weeks following the Partial Final Award handed down on 27 February 2026, in which an international Tribunal established the GBPA’s legal obligation to make annual payments to the Government until 2054, rejected seven of the Port Authority’s eight counterclaims against the Government, and confirmed the Government’s sovereign authority over licensing, immigration, customs, utilities, land regulation, and environmental approvals in the Port Area.
Despite those findings, Pintard characterised the ruling as a Government failure and accused the Davis administration of wasting public funds — a position that mirrored the GBPA’s own public statement almost verbatim.
The revelation is expected to deepen tensions within the FNM’s Grand Bahama base, where senior party figures have already expressed private frustration with Pintard’s handling of the arbitration issue. Several FNM organisers on the island described his town hall performance last week as “embarrassing” and accused him of siding with the Port Authority over the interests of Grand Bahamians.
The PLP has repeatedly accused Pintard of acting as a political proxy for the GBPA and the families that control it. In a statement released over the weekend, the governing party described Pintard as “the GBPA’s man in Parliament” and said the FNM “has always been the party of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged.”
The $2 million commitment is likely to give those accusations new weight.
Campaign finance in The Bahamas remains largely unregulated, with no statutory requirement for political parties to publicly disclose the source or size of private donations. Reform advocates have long called for legislation mandating transparency in political contributions, arguing that undisclosed corporate funding undermines public trust in the democratic process.
The Bahamas Herald has requested formal comment from the GBPA, the FNM, and the Office of the Prime Minister. This story will be updated as responses are received.
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