The Tribune

THE lead story in Friday’s Tribune stirred a response from the Office of the Prime Minister.

To recap, the story was about comments made by Prime Minister Phillip Davis, who suggested that additional cuts in Value Added Tax (VAT) could be made if Bahamians continued to work with his government.

He said that it would depend on the country’s fiscal standing, before adding: “The Bahamian people have been working with me in a more, an extraordinary way, and the reward for that work is my ability to cut VAT on food by five percent.”

He then added: “If we continue to work as we have been working together, likely cuts will be imminent.”

Our headline on the story was “PM: Back me and I may cut VAT again.”

The director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, Latrae Rahming, took to X (formerly Twitter) to proclaim the headline made an incorrect suggestion.

He posted to social media: “This morning I spoke to the editor of Tribune about today’s headline, which wrongly suggests the Prime Minister said to vote for him and he’ll cut VAT. He did not say that. He said future cuts depend on our fiscal standing and continued cooperation with the Bahamian people — not political support.”

There are several problems with this post. First, he had not spoken to the editor of The Tribune at the time of the post, but rather a different member of staff, although the managing editor certainly spoke with him afterwards.

He also said that the headline suggested the PM “said to vote for him and he’ll cut VAT”. As Mr Rahming says: “He did not say that.”

Well, neither did our headline. The word vote is nowhere in sight. If we had meant that, we would have said that. We also said may, rather than will, as his comment was not that definite.

Rather, the PM asked for the people to keep working with him. Hence, to back him. Back does not mean vote.

Mr Rahming subsequently emailed the managing editor, an extract of which now follows: “…the headline is misleading and does not reflect what the Prime Minister actually said. At no point did he suggest that VAT cuts were tied to political support.

“…His comment was clearly about fiscal prudence and continued collaboration with the Bahamian people — not political alignment. Unfortunately, the framing of the headline distorts the meaning and risks misleading the public.”

There was also a request for a clarification – and a clarification is needed, but not on the part of The Tribune.

How exactly does Mr Davis want the Bahamian people to continue to work with him? What can you and I and all of us do to make Mr Davis pull the trigger on those VAT cuts? That is what is unclear.

So if the government wishes to make clear what that pathway will be, we will be more than happy to report it. But if the suggestion is vague, and people fill in the gaps with their own thoughts about what it may or may not mean, that is what needs to be clarified.

We would be delighted to hear more.