It is totally beyond my comprehension, the manner in which Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald continues to disregard of the law and the constitution of The Bahamas; while continuing to attempt to justify the tabling of private emails in the House of Assembly –  his explanation of how he came into possession of said emails even suggests that he should have known better.

“Fitzgerald: Political trash can was a sealed envelope” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald has revealed that the Save the Bay’s emails he read and tabled in Parliament were printed out and delivered to him in a ‘sealed envelope’, adding that he did not know how the documents were accessed.”  In this statement the member of Parliament for Marathon suggests that he tabled unsolicited, and unverified information pertaining to the private lives of other citizens of The Bahamas; something that the minister has no explanation for but yet later goes on to say “he was at all times acting in the public interest”.

Is it indeed in the public’s interest to violate the constitution of The Bahamas by violating a citizen’s right to privacy in an attempt to prove a point that to date has yet to be proven and if Mr. Fitzgerald feels that he was acting in the public’s best interest by violating a person’s constitutional rights then I ask; can I acting in the public’s interest believing that the Progressive Liberal Party as a government is not good for the Bahamas then divulge personal information about any of the members of same said government that is sent to me privately without verifying if the information is truthful or not i.e. what I find in my ‘garbage can’?  Would this type of action be considered; right, responsible and even legal?  With that thought in mind, is it responsible for a person working out of the Attorney General’s office to act in such a reckless manner or would this be something that we would expect of someone with limited education?

I stand with Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles with her findings of wrong-doing on his [Minister Fitzgerald] behalf and can only marvel in the manner in which this government now seeks to allow her to be intimidated by the Member of Parliament of Marathon, along with others.

“Mr. Fitzgerald, with Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson listed as the second applicant, is seeking to establish that Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles was ‘wrong and erred’ in fact and in law when she ruled that he infringed on constitutional rights when he tabled the private emails of the environmental action group in Parliament, and therefore could not be protected by parliamentary privilege”. 

As a matter of law Justice Charles found that parliamentary privilege cannot usurp the constitutional right to privacy of a private citizen because to allow this would end these privileges afforded to the ordinary citizen against a Member of Parliament, what is so difficult about this to comprehend, Mr. Education Minister?

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END