The Tribune

FNM Acting Chairman Darron Cash has called on Prime Minister Perry Christie to explain why the “Vote Yes” campaign for the upcoming gambling referendum was allowed to have a booth in the Treasury building.

Yesterday a photograph of the booth spread throughout Facebook like wildfire, causing an outcry from many Bahamians who felt that the presence of the pro-gambling pack was in “poor taste”.

While it was explained that the event was a private art exhibition where other booths had been assembled, the FNM’s acting chairman said the Prime Minister still owes the Bahamian people an “immediate explanation.”

“While we expect an eloquent explanation, this action is a clear and dramatic breach of the public trust. If the people required any further evidence that they are being set up and that the fix is already in, this is it. For many months now, the Prime Minister has sworn to the Bahamian people that he has no horse in the gambling race. Yet at every step in the process his actions betray his words. This is yet another shameful display of the Prime Minister’s bias.

“The Prime Minister has a widening credibility gap. We cannot take him at his word. Actions such as this one by the Prime Minister send an unequivocal message to the people. He and his entire government have their fingers on the scale. As much as they try to deny it, they want Bahamians to vote “yes”.

Mr Cash said that “the stakes appear to be so high” that it would seem that he is prepared “to diminish the stature of his office and the necessary independence of the Ministry of Finance in order to sway public opinion.” Mr Cash said the Prime Minister “owes the Bahamas a full and proper explanation.” He said the public deserves to know what promises the Prime Minister might have made and “why he is so desperate to ensure that this measure passes.”

“He continues to insult the intelligence of his people,” said Mr Cash. “He needs to stop. Review his actions and the mess his missteps have caused, and if necessary, he needs to cancel this referendum, or opinion poll or whatever it is that he is calling it today.”