The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party has urged supporters to treat a report connecting allegations about Peter Nygard to the party with “several grains of salt”.

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell said in a statement yesterday: “PLP members are asked to read with caution and several grains of salt the article published in The Tribune about a lawsuit in the United States against Peter Nygard, a resident of Lyford Cay, which seeks to connect the alleged tortious acts with the PLP. It is propaganda.”

Mr Mitchell’s comment came after the Free National Movement released a statement saying the PLP “cannot remain silent with these explosive allegations being reported on by media from around the world.”

A class action lawsuit filed in New York last week alleged Mr Nygard raped ten women, including nine Bahamians. The lawsuit claims he bought police protection and political cover by paying law enforcement and government officials. It highlighted his financial donations to the PLP.

Mr Mitchell said: “We have examined the statement in its entirety and it appears to contain a mis-mashed concoction of everything and the kitchen sink to make a salacious and biased story against the PLP without any evidential foundation.

“From our analysis of the writ, there is no connection between the references to the PLP and the acts complained of. In fact, one of the captions of a photograph in the writ makes a false identification as a former parliamentarian of the PLP. The statement is loose with the truth.

“Our educated guess and suspicion is that these allegations in the writ are, as far as it concerns the conduct of PLP members, well worn and discredited untruths about the party and its members. These date back to the general election when people connected to funding a group called Save the Bays spread disinformation during the campaign which have been shown to be untruths and falsehoods. If the writ were filed in Bahamian courts, the information about anyone connected to the PLP would have been struck out as an abuse of process and irrelevant.”

In response to a Tribune editorial calling for a commission of inquiry into the claims, Mr Mitchell said the matter does not require such a probe. However, he said his party is determined to use a commission to uncover the “collusion between the FNM, The Tribune and Save the Bays and other media interests to use funds by foreign interests to destabilise the last government of the Bahamas.”