The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THERE are certain former Progressive Liberal Party Cabinet ministers who should never be allowed to hold an office in the PLP or return to front line politics on the party’s ticket, as these persons were instrumental in the organisation’s crippling defeat in the 2017 general election, according to former MP Philip Galanis yesterday.

Together, Mr Galanis said, these former politicians showed arrogance and helped cause the PLP to be characterised as corrupt and detached from the people who voted them to office.

While he would not name to whom he referred, Mr Galanis told The Tribune that under the PLP’s watch there were several scandals and key mistakes, including the issue of privilege which arose after former Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald read private citizens’ personal emails in Parliament.

Other controversies were the handling of the Rubis gas leak in Marathon where Mr Fitzgerald was the MP, and the revelation that the Bahamas ambassador to China had proposed a $2.1 billion agri-fisheries deal for Andros with Chinese investors. Former Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister V Alfred Gray admitted last year that he gave the Bahamas Embassy in China the go-ahead to discuss this controversial proposal with Chinese investors.

But now that these issues are behind the PLP, Mr Galanis said he believes Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis is best suited to lead the PLP and restore it to a party with appeal to Bahamians.

He said: “I think that of the persons in the House right now, given his longstanding history in the party and also given the fact that he served right next to the former leader, I think he has what it takes to reform the party and help us to reengineer ourselves so that we could become more relevant to Bahamians. I believe that of all the persons in Parliament that he is best suited.

“I think he won the deputy leadership by a significant majority. He has conducted himself in a manner that has been transparent in most cases. He has assisted a lot of people both PLP, FNMs and independents and those who weren’t necessarily aligned to the party. He is always willing to listen. He doesn’t make promises that are idle and I think, as I said, he really stands head and shoulders above all of the others who are there.

“That he won his seat, I think is a manifestation of the fact that persons in his constituency felt that he was worthy of being returned although many of the people who were there previously and who sat around the table with him did not live up to that expectation.

“So I am fully supportive of Mr Davis. I think he needs to be given a chance. Whether or not he takes us into elections in 2022, I think that’s a long, long time away and it’s hard to say whether or not anyone in Parliament now will emerge as the most likely person to succeed because we are just so far away from that.”

Asked to point out what caused the party to lose the election, Mr Galanis said there were far too many key mistakes and a lack of transparency.

“I am talking about (former) Cabinet ministers. We know who they are and they know who they are. They know what damage they did to the party and I hope we see their backs and we don’t ever see them in front line politics ever again because they don’t deserve to be,” Mr Galanis said.

Before the election, The Tribune revealed that Mr Fitzgerald unsuccessfully sought lucrative contracts for his family’s business from Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian.

Also shortly before the election, it was revealed that former Minister of Labour Shane Gibson had received tens of thousands of dollars from Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard between August 2011 and January 2013. The payments, made to a US bank account, totalled $94,131.10.

In his defence, Mr Gibson said the money was used as a contribution to his 2012 election campaign and for community initiatives in the Golden Gates constituency such as scholarships to students.