Just as the leader of the opposition the Hon. Philip Davis made the declaration that he does not support corruption in any form, in furtherance to his appeal to have Prime Minister, the Hon. Hubert Minnis ‘do the right thing’ and have National Security Minister, Marvin Dames and Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands resign or be fired, it would appear that maybe he [Mr. Davis] may need to step down himself.

At the very least a case can be made to have him step down.

“How STB’s emails were given to PLP” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “A FORMER Nygard employee is claiming he knows Save The Bays emails and financial records ended up in a former MP’s ‘political garbage can’ in 2016.

Vivian Whylly, reportedly a former public relations consultant for the Canadian fashion mogul, alleges the emails and financial information were given to then Progressive Liberal Party deputy leader Philip Davis, who in turn passed them on to-then Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald.

He further claimed a former employee at Mr. Davis’ law firm kept the information on a red USB drive and shopped the STB emails to Nygard asking for $10m.

Based on his claims, a former STB employee and her husband – former Davis and Co. attorney – are also facing legal action.”

This case began with Jerome Fitzgerald, then PLP MP for Marathon and PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, then PLP MP for Fox Hill; attempting to invoke parliamentary to read the private emails of Save The Bays and several of its consultants in the House of Assembly, the problem being they could not adequately explain how they came into the possession of these emails with Jerome Fitzgerald claiming that he had found them in his “political trash can.”

Save The Bays, subsequently was able to file an injunction to have the emails remain private and won a court case against the former PLP member of parliament for Marathon against the further sale and publication of documents relating to STB’s and those that were in support of the organization.

Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles declared Jerome Fitzgerald was not legally justified when he tabled in the private emails of the environment group in Parliament and therefore could not be protected by parliamentary privilege.

Fitzgerald was ordered to pay $150,000 in damages for the breach.

Now it is being alleged that it is was Philip Davis, then Deputy Prime Minister, who was the ‘political garbage can’ that Jerome Fitzgerald referred to, it is no concern of mine how the members in this party refer to one another but rather the fact that it would seem that the deputy leader of the party, now leader of the Progressive Liberal Party was complicate in this act to violate the privacy of other citizens of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and if these allegations are indeed true then is just as guilty or even more so than Jerome Fitzgerald.

I write this not to plead anyone’s case or to point fingers.  I do not write this to suggest that one wrong is not greater than another or to suggest that ‘they did it’ but rather to see if there will be a call for equal treatment.  It is my view just as Dames and Sands are being asked to resign or be fired for behavior labeled as inappropriate, then the leader of the opposition along with his chairman Senator Fred Mitchell also should be called on to resign and be labeled unfit for service, all to stem the evil that is attacking our democracy.

END

“PLP will boycott Parliament until ‘point is made” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Days after Attorney General Carl Bethel called the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) boycott of Parliament unacceptable’, PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell said Bethel has no say in what the party does and that it will continue with its boycott of Parliament until the ‘point is made’.

Mitchell said the PLP is boycotting Parliament over the ‘judicial condemnation’ of two Cabinet ministers in the Frank Smith extortion and bribery trail.

Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands and Minister of National Security Marvin Dames were called to testify during the trail.  In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt was critical of Sands’ and Dames’ conduct in relation to the case.  The PLP called on the men to either resign or be fired.

In a statement yesterday, Mitchell said, ‘The PLP makes this gesture of defiance to say that there cannot be business as usual.

‘The attorney general has no say in what the PLP does or does not do.’

He added, ‘When it is judged in the best interests of the country and the point is sufficiently made, our leader will lead his colleagues back into Parliament and not before.’

PLP senators withdrew from the Senate last Thursday after the PLP Leader Philip Brave Davis announced that the party will boycott the House of Assembly.

At the time, Mitchell said the boycott was in protest on the ‘prosecution’ of PLP supporters by the government.”

So the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has put the pursuit of democracy on hold for either until two FNM members of parliament are fired or in support of “PLP supporters” accused of “several fraud-related offenses.”

Let me first make the observation that the opposition Progressive Liberal party (PLP) ‘conveniently’ became enraged with the entire system and walked out to ‘support PLP supporters’ being taken before for the courts on fraud charges, this after the night before a message was sent out requesting PLP supporters to meet with their leader at the house courts in support of the former Urban Renewal workers, it is funny how that just worked out.

Chairman Fred Mitchell suggests first that because PLP supporters were being charged and brought before the courts is why they are staging a boycott but it can also be for the reason of two members of parliament not either resigning or being fired; maybe it is both?

The leader of the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) recently stood before a group of supporters and told them, as he defended the former Urban Renewal workers, who Chairman Fred Mitchell labels as “PLP supporters”; “Accusation is not the same  as proof” but yet the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party has rallied the troops and boycotted Parliament for the firing of two ministers based on accusations, as nothing in the magistrates ruling(condemnation) points to any illegal act by any of the ministers.

Then there is the leader of the oppositions utterance that he does not support corruption and that there must be evidence, but even in the absence of any evidence he and his party sees fit to boycott parliament in support of ‘PLP supporters’ presently before the courts on fraud charges; exactly what message is the leader of the opposition sending here?  If they are found guilty how will he account for his present actions?

Indeed, this is nothing but political posturing at the expense of the people and most likely to their detriment, because while they have convinced their supporters to come and ‘dance with them’ in this reckless act, these very same supporters have NO voice in parliament.

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

END

“Davis: I do not support corruption” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis told a crowd  of supporters last night that he does not support corruption in any form.

‘Friends, let me say something about the issue of corruption,’ he said during a joint PL branch meeting.

‘I’m not here to defend anyone, ever who takes money from the Bahamian people.

‘As far as I’m concern, if you take a dollar from the public treasury, you’re taking it from our kids, from our hospitals, from our future.’

‘So you show me evidence of corruption, I stand ready to condemn you, no matter your party, but you can’t skip over the evidence part.”

‘An accusation isn’t the same thing as proof, no matter how loudly you make it.”

So if you take it before it gets to the public treasury then is it okay?  I am just asking a general question for clarification.

Indeed it takes a very special person, with a very special mind to stand before a group of people and tell them that they do not support corruption in any form given that this very same person sat by a seemed to facilitate corrupt practices, in government and even within his own party.

Mr. Davis makes the statement; “So you show me evidence of corruption, I stand ready to condemn you, no matter your party, but you can’t skip the evidence part.”  Indeed, you cannot skip the evidence part but it light of poorly produced evidence, even Mr. Davis should seek to distance himself from perceived corruption; unless you live by the creed, “It is not what you know it is what you can prove.”

Mr. Davis says he needs evidence to support claims of corruption but if a bucket leaks but you cannot see the leak, then by his rational, the bucket is not leaking.

Mr. Davis, points to the Frank Smith case to prove a pattern of an attack on democracy and ‘persecution’ on PLP supporters, as he seeks to justify his support of former Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley, who now stands accused of defrauding the government of $1.2 million, and seems quick to point out that Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt in her ruling on the Frank Smith extortion case said that there was not a scintilla of evidence to support the charges [“There is not a scintilla of evidence to support the fact that there was meeting between Barbara Hanna and the accused prior to the award of the contract.”  Based on this Mr. Davis and supporters have called for the immediate resignation of Dr. Duane Sands, minister of health and Marvin Dames, minister of national security for alleged ‘wrong doings’, and all of this without a scintilla of evidence; let us also bear in mind that nowhere in her ruling did the chief magistrate suggest that the either Dames or Sands did anything criminal or even that former PLP senator, Frank Smith was innocent of the charges brought before him.

Indeed, Mr. Davis is a very special person with a very special mind and while many may suggest that he himself may be corrupt or not corrupt; his seeming wiliness to facilitate corrupt practices by turn a blind-eye to them leaves a lot to be thought about.

 END