The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement political hopeful Lincoln Bain was adamant yesterday that he did nothing wrong as he admitted to secretly recording former Senator Lanisha Rolle during a private meeting, saying his actions were a bid to “protect myself” from possible “sabotage.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Bain claimed the audio recording only “came into play” to prove to party executives that the private meeting had taken place.

Insisting that he does not go around recording people, he maintained that it will soon be abundantly clear that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Asked to explain this alleged “sabotage”, Mr Bain responded that someone called to put him on alert about an upcoming meeting with Mrs Rolle and warned him to “be careful.”

Several attempts were made to contact Mrs Rolle, however they were unsuccessful.

She resigned from the Senate on Friday after The Tribune exclusively published several stories regarding the audio recording in which she made disparaging comments about several FNM MPs, including Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, during a conversation with Mr Bain. During that meeting she also told Mr Bain that he would not get the nomination for the Pinewood constituency and alleged that the ratification of incumbent FNM MPs had been purposefully delayed.

Dr Duane Sands was appointed to fill the Senate vacancy.

“As I have said before it’s an internal party matter and personally I don’t like when I see people going out in the press talking about internal party matters,” Mr Bain said when he was contacted.

“But I will say this much. I did receive a call warning me that I would be going into a meeting with Lanisha Rolle and to be careful because I may be sabotaged in that meeting. Based on that I decided to protect myself by recording the conversation.

“I had no idea what would happen in the meeting. I had no idea what would be said afterwards or that the meeting would be denied or what would happen so I just recorded it for my personal reasons.”

He added: “After the meeting I was asked about it by party leaders and I was told that the other party had denied everything and that’s when the audio tape came into play to prove that the meeting took place and what took place in the meeting. But I didn’t record a meeting to go to the media, as you would know.

“You asked me for the tape (last week) and I told you I don’t want to release it, I didn’t even want to give any statements out there because I didn’t want to expose any internal party stuff but it was only after everything was being denied that it was necessary.”

Mr Bain added: “I am a male (and) she is a female so I didn’t know what would happen in this meeting. It was just one-on-one and there were no witnesses so I preferred to record it. I don’t record private meetings and I have had many private meetings with her before that. I have never repeated anything that we have said or recorded any of it. But it was just in this instance that I was warned.”

Asked whether this situation might affect his chances of receiving the party’s nomination for the Pinewood constituency, Mr Bain said he has done nothing wrong and if constituents want him to serve he would answer the call.

“Personally I am here as a volunteer to the people of Pinewood Gardens so if they want me then they can have me,” he added.

“In this incident I don’t think I did anything wrong. I haven’t done anything wrong at all. I took measures to protect myself and again I didn’t go down there and chase down the media and try to expose it.

“There are some of the opinion that I recorded the audio and after she said certain things I went to party leadership and told them what she said. That again isn’t the case. The details will come out once the investigation is finished but again I don’t want to personally be the one to preempt the investigation.”

As previously reported, FNM Chairman Sidney Collie is investigating the matter.

Although the senator’s resignation was welcomed by some in the party, the incident has probably complicated efforts to rally them behind Dr Minnis, who appointed her to the Senate last year despite concerns from some that she was inexperienced and undeserving of the position.

“Today I am announcing my resignation from the Senate with immediate effect,” Mrs Rolle said in a statement on Friday. “It has been a great honour and privilege for me to serve the people of The Bahamas in such high office. However, at this current time in my life I need to focus on a few personal matters and do not feel that I will be able to devote the time needed to best serve the Bahamian people. I cannot in good conscience allow myself to continue to serve while not being able to focus all of my attention to the work of the people.

“I truly believe the Free National Movement is strongest when it is focused on the work of the people and my hope is that my resignation today will allow the party to appoint someone that can fill my role and dedicate the needed time to achieving the greater good of all Bahamians,” she continued. “I thank the FNM leadership for giving me the opportunity to serve the people and I look forward to working in my own capacity to help ensure that the FNM continues to move forward as it strives to rescue The Bahamas from a failing government.”

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Dr Minnis announced she will be replaced in the Senate by Dr Sands, and said: “I respect Senator Rolle’s decision to step down today from the Senate. She has served the people of The Bahamas with great pride and I look forward to working with her in the future.”