The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING opposition criticism for not yet releasing the gambling referendum questions, Prime Minister Perry Christie said Bahamians will be appraised of the questions “in the very near future”.

A decision has already been made on what the question or questions will be, Mr Christie continued, and there is “no doubt” that Bahamians will fully understand the referendum on voting day.

He explained he had to consider whether a national lottery should be a separate question from web-shop licensing and gaming.

The Prime Minister was responding to comments from Zhivargo Laing, former Minister of State for Finance, who was quoted in news reports as explaining the referendum question should have been released to the public by now.

Mr Laing, who announced his resignation from the Senate earlier this month, told the press that as Mr Christie had recently announced the referendum for January 28, if the details are not released to the public soon, Bahamians will not have enough time to consider them before voting day.

This disregards the point of delaying it from December 3, he explained.

Speaking yesterday, the Prime Minister said: “Firstly, I have to say to my friend Zhivargo that I thought he was out of politics, but I guess that’s effective December that he is resigning form the Senate.

“Having said that, you would recall that I had taken a position that the lottery was not going to be in it. When I took the position, the question as framed – ‘do you agree with the regularization of web-shop licensing, regularization of web-shop gaming’ – it now has to be lottery added to it and the question is whether or not there will be one question with web-shop and lotteries or two questions with web-shop and lotteries.

“I have made the decision and am going to my colleagues with the decision because it’s cabinet government and I will have the Bahamian people apprised of the question.”

There is “absolutely no doubt whatsoever” that voters will know they’re voting either against legalising or for legalising, Mr Christine declared.

“They are going to know what they’re going in to vote for and I have no doubt about that. So it’s full stop for me. They will have plenty of time to do it. The referendum is on January 28 and most certainly, in the very near future, they will know the question or questions,” he said.