FNMs: If you spend all day at a fish market, you’ll leave smelling like fish.
Dear Editor,
Approximately one hundred and four days (104) today, the 2026 General Elections had concluded, the results across the family islands were devastatingly clear. For many newly minted FNM candidates sitting in the briefing room, the crushing defeat came as a shock. But for those who understood the invisible laws of political gravity, the outcome was entirely predictable.
They had forgotten the timeless rule of the environment: “If you spend all day at a fish market, you’ll leave smelling like fish, even if you never touched one. But spend your day in a perfume shop, and you’ll carry the scent even if you didn’t buy anything.”
For the past few years, the FNM candidates had willingly walked into a fish market. At the helm of the party stood its present leadership: Leader Michael Pintard and Chairman Dr. Duane Sands. Together, they shared a staggering, historic burden. Statistically, their combined careers accounted for some of the most prominent individual political losses in the modern history of Bahamian politics. Between grueling constituency defeats and failed national campaigns, the leadership duo carried the undeniable, persistent aroma of political rejection.
Yet, the fresh candidates believed they were immune. They thought their individual talent, youth, and unblemished records would shield them. They were wrong. The law of proximity spares no one. If you hang around a losing environment long enough, you don’t have to do anything wrong—even if you are a natural-born winner, the losing environment will eventually manifest in your life, seeping into your campaign and clouding your vision.
Across the political aisle, a completely different atmosphere had been constructed. Against all historical odds, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) had successfully retained power. It wasn’t because they were flawless, but because they understood the perfume shop principle. They intentionally cultivated an undeniable, contagious winning environment. They moved with the confidence of incumbents who expected victory, creating an atmosphere of momentum that drew voters and candidates into a scent of success.
As the realization of the 2026 results settled over the Country, a seasoned FNM party elder stood up to address the shell-shocked candidates.
“You should not be surprised by this outcome,” the elder said, his voice echoing off the walls. “A word to the wise regarding your present leadership: they ask for too much and offer far too little. They asked for your loyalty, your money, and your political futures, but offered no viable strategy to counter a winning machine.”
He looked directly at the young candidates who had trusted the leadership’s grand assurances of a red wave.
“Let this be a lesson for the future,” the elder concluded. “It appears that all the promises this leadership makes, and every grand strategy they sign off on… their signature is always written in pencil. It rubs away the moment the pressure rises. If you want to smell like victory, you must stop sitting in the fish market.”
A word to the wise.
GCF
