The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A prominent businessman yesterday described Dr Hubert Minnis’s pledge to reverse Baha Mar’s sale if elected as “one of the most reckless and dangerous statements I’ve ever heard from a political leader in Bahamian history”.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, the Sunshine Holdings and Arawak Homes chairman, told Tribune Business that all political parties - dating back to United Bahamian Party (UBP) times - had taken positions “diametrically opposed” to the FNM leader when it came to honouring investment agreements made by previous administrations.

He added, though, that the Bahamas had been “fortunate” because Dr Minnis’s statement was “so extreme” it was unlikely to scare away or alter investor decision-making.

Sir Franklyn then suggested that Dr Minnis’s statement “played into this narrative” that the Free National Movement (FNM) has been “put up for sale”, and that the Baha Mar comments were made to unlock election campaign funding from the project’s former developer, Sarkis Izmirlian.

“I think that was one of the most reckless, dangerous statements I’ve ever heard from a leader of any major political party in the history of the Bahamas,” Sir Franklyn told Tribune Business, as the furore over Dr Minnis’s Facebook posting continued.

Naming leaders ranging from Tommy Turnquest to Hubert Ingraham, Sir Lynden Pindling and Perry Christie, he added: “I cannot recall one statement they ever made that was as unwise and unfortunate as was that statement.”

Dr Minnis’s posting suggested that the FNM, should it win the upcoming general election, would undo Baha Mar’s sale to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) and instead seek a different buyer for the $4.2 billion development.

He promised that if elected to government the party would “engage and execute a real sale” of Baha Mar, and added that his administration would seek “a qualified and respectable purchaser who believes in Bahamians”.

Dr Minnis has since sought to clarify his remarks, saying an FNM government would seek a purchaser for Baha Mar if no sale had been closed by the time it took office - a reference to the fact that CTFE’s acquisition has not completed, with the deal contingent on Baha Mar’s $700 million construction completion.

His comments, though, have exposed him to attacks by Government ministers, who have accused him of seeking to undermine Baha Mar’s impending opening and potential employment for up to 5,000 Bahamians, along with a much-needed economic growth boost.

Private sector leaders, such as Chamber chairman, Gowon Bowe, have also expressed concern that Dr Minnis’s statement is the latest in a series of pronouncements from all political parties that potentially threaten to undermine both Bahamian and foreign investor confidence in this nation.

Mr Bowe on Tuesday told Tribune Business that the FNM leader’s remarks could undermine the Bahamas’ long-cherished reputation for political stability, something that holds the country in good stead with Standard & Poor’s (S&P), which recently downgraded it to ‘junk’ status.

He added that the Opposition political parties needed to present evidence to justify their claims, and only seek to re-negotiate the Baha Mar deal if it could be shown it was egregiously against the Bahamian people’s interests.

Sir Franklyn, meanwhile, seized on Dr Minnis’s statement as further evidence that he and the FNM are surrogates for Mr Izmirlian.

“There has been considerable speculation in the community as to why he did it,” Sir Franklyn said of Dr Minnis’s Facebook posting. “Clearly, he’s pandering to a particular individual.”

Declining to refer to Mr Izmirlian by name, he added: “The question is why was he pandering to the individual, and why was he pandering to that individual at this particular point in time?

“The clear impression that has been given was that statement was specifically calculated to cause a particular individual to unlock funding, which Dr Minnis appreciates he would need to fight a credible general election campaign.”

While Mr Izmirlian would likely have ‘an axe to grind’ with the Government and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), given the help it gave the Chinese in ripping away Baha Mar and his family’s $800-$900 million equity investment, no evidence has been produced to suggest he is financing the FNM campaign.

However, Dionisio D’Aguilar, one of Baha Mar’s Board members under Mr Izmirlian, plus two former Baha Mar executives in the shape of Marvin Dames and Jeffrey Lloyd, are all FNM election candidates.

“It plays into this mantra, plays into this narrative that he has put his party up for sale with one buyer,” Sir Franklyn told Tribune Business. “It just lends credence to that.

“I say that with a degree of empathy, because I have been close to the process of funding elections in the Bahamas. It’s not easy.

“It’s difficult and challenging. The leaders of political parties are under immense pressure, now and in the past. I can understand the pressure he’s [Dr Minnis] under, but in searching for solutions don’t destroy the wide consensus that has developed about the way to lead the country to prosperity.”

Sir Franklyn argued that all political parties, dating back to UBP days, and with the exception of the Vanguard Socialist Party, had “taken positions diametrically opposite to what Dr Minnis said” when it came to honouring bona fide investment agreements.

He added that the ‘saving grace’ for the Bahamas was that Dr Minnis’s remarks were “sufficiently extreme that, in my humble opinion, no reasonably prudent investor will take it as serious comment or interpret it in such a way that it influences their judgment”.

“It’s seen as too extreme, too out of the ordinary,” Sir Franklyn continued. “It’s too distant from what they would have heard from any other leader in the country. How do you take it seriously? I don’t see how you do.

“It’s potentially dangerous, and there’s no good to it, but the fortunate thing is that it’s so extreme that I don’t believe anyone contemplating investment in the Bahamas will be frightened by it.”

Sir Franklyn Wilson said his joint venture at Jack’s Bay, Eleuthera, with a major development company and Tiger Woods’ golf course design firm had not been impacted by Dr Minnis’s comments.