The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FNM Chairman Michael Pintard criticised State Legal Affairs Minister Damian Gomez for seeking to file proposed Election Court petitions to declare the FNM’s Long Island and Killarney seats vacant for alleged violation of the Constitution’s conflict of interest rules.

Mr Pintard accused Mr Gomez of “seeking to convince an intelligent public that the PLP is blameless” while simultaneously painting the FNM as “being guilty of two cases of conflict”.

He also said it was “more than convenient” that the two MPs Mr Gomez is after are “arguably the two most dominant voices in the opposition.”

Last week Sunday, Mr Gomez revealed plans to seek leave from a judge to file Election Court petitions to declare vacant the seats of Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner and Killarney MP Dr Hubert Minnis for “violation of the constitution” in respect to conflicts of interest.

Mr Gomez later told The Tribune that this proposed legal battle, which was a personal decision and is being carried out by his attorneys, had nothing to do with the Christie administration or the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

In a statement released this week, Mr Pintard blasted Mr Gomez for suggesting that there are two cases of “conflict” within the FNM while being “unwilling to identify one instance of corruption in the PLP”.

He added: “Minister Gomez is no doubt at crossroads. He can either continue down the road of positioning himself as the national ombudsman who would seek to protect the public and ensure institutional integrity. Or he can retreat to the safe haven of the party line and prove his loyalty to the PLP team after having berated the government for its failure to help his constituents and charging the PLP administration with being complicit to corruption.

“Minister Gomez came to frontline politics with a reputation as a plain speaker who calls things as he sees them. However, he is coming dangerously close to shredding that reputation by seeking to convince an intelligent public that the PLP is blameless (or guilty of nameless transgressions) while painting the FNM as being guilty of two cases of conflict that in his opinion is punishable by removal from their positions in the House of Assembly.”

Mr Pintard added that if Mr Gomez is to be “believable as the conscience of government,” he should first examine and confront the number of controversies plaguing the Christie administration, such as Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson’s alleged conflict of interest regarding her husband owning stores that have leases with Baha Mar and her role as a government negotiator over the project.

Other matters he outlined were the controversies surrounding the decision by government officials to withhold, for nearly a year, the release of a report on the ramifications of a Rubis gas leak in the Marathon constituency as well as allegations of judicial interference by MICAL MP V Alfred Gray.

“Minister Gomez has an opportunity to use his good office to immediately address the aforementioned matters or leave the Cabinet where such transparency will not be facilitated or tolerated,” Mr Pintard continued. “It may have been wiser for Mr Gomez to continue on the high road by specifically identifying the matters (plaguing the PLP) and pledging commitment to legislation and policies that increase accountability among public officials regardless of political party.”

Mrs Butler-Turner has said she will sue Mr Gomez for criminal defamation of character, adding that she will not rest until she “unequivocally” proves that she is innocent of those accusations.

Dr Minnis, meanwhile, told The Tribune that he had advised his lawyer to review Mr Gomez’s claims.