The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Cabinet minister George Smith said Jerome Fitzgerald’s solicitation of Sarkis Izmirlian for Baha Mar contracts shows the extent to which this country has allowed the “bastardisation of the Westminster system” to take place.

Mr Smith, who considers himself an admirer of Mr Fitzgerald, said he is conflicted in the face of news of Mr Fitzgerald’s actions because while the Education Minister’s desire to “assist his father” might have been noble, there are clear Cabinet procedures that guide ministers of government.

“To the extent that we have permitted the bastardisation of this system, (his actions are) understandable,” Mr Smith, a member of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), said.

“We have to look at our standards. The bastardising of standards where we permit the lines to be blurred where ministers could get away here with things they shouldn’t get away with in a proper Westminster system is inappropriate. In a proper system, much of what people get away here wouldn’t happen.

“We got to get back to the point where when people run for the House of Assembly they play by the long established rules and conventions. The rules that govern Cabinet ministers are documented. You shouldn’t pursue your private interests when you have accepted a position to pursue the public interests.”

In the wake of the scandal, some observers accused Mr Fitzgerald of a breach of the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure, which states in Clause 40b, a minister must not “solicit or accept any benefit, advantage or promise of future advantage whether for himself, his immediate family or any business concern or trust with which he is associated from persons who are in, or seek to be in, any contractual or special relationship with the government.”

Mr Smith also aimed criticism at Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, one of the government’s negotiators for Baha Mar’s remobilisation.

Unprompted, he said: “When I hear that a minister is involved in a discussion or negotiation and the minister’s family has interest in that particular establishment being negotiated with, the excuse someone used one time was, ‘I told the Prime Minister.’ Well, that doesn’t justify it.”

He was referring to Mrs Maynard-Gibson’s past statement that before she led negotiations on Baha Mar, she told Mr Christie about her family’s businesses at the resort.

“It doesn’t matter if she told him and (the Prime Minister) still chose her,” Mr Smith said. “I know what my responsibility is, which is not to defer the decision to someone else. I can’t say ‘Rashad, I going to shoot somebody’ and if you say go ahead, I then do it.

“If the rules say I can’t pursue the private interests and still pursue the public interest, then you can’t do both. Doing so you’re bound to be either in a direct conflict of interest or you create the appearance of a conflict of interest. The burden is on the individual. As much as one sympathises with motivations and all that, at the end of the day, Cabinet ministers must realise that they don’t have the luxury of being able to pursue both interests as part of their Cabinet appointment.”

Mr Smith broadened his critique to include other politicians, including Free National Movement (FNM) candidates.

He said Dionisio D’Aguilar’s admission on Sunday that a broker created fraudulent invoices for washing machines imported into The Bahamas doesn’t absolve him of responsibility.

“D’Aguilar can’t blame the custom broker fella for something that was done in his name,” he said. “He has a responsibility to make sure the fella did the right thing because that fella did something for him.”

Attorney Wayne Munroe was also criticised for his language and gestures at a PLP rally last week.

“That crude and unruly thing Munroe did, that’s on him,” Mr Smith said. “If there is any condemnation it ought to be attributed to him for doing what is not expected of them.”

Mr Smith also criticised Dr Hubert Minnis as part of his broader point of restoring standards in public life.

“It is difficult for Minnis to say I don’t have a contractual relationship because he did have it with the government as minister of health renting from his own private business,” Mr Smith said. “All of this is wrong and we have to stop burdening our people with all these heartaches.”

Mr Smith, a former Exuma MP, served in the Pindling Cabinet.