Former National Insurance Board (NIB) Chairman and Marco City MP Greg Moss said the time has come for Members of Parliament to be protected by the law when it comes to their names “being dragged through the mud” in the media.

In fact, Mr. Moss told the House of Assembly on Wednesday that he has even contemplated contacting some local newspapers for payment due to their handling of his name.

“I have given great thought to writing the Tribune, The Nassau Guardian and The Punch and asking for royalties over the last three months for the papers they have sold on my name,” he said.

“I am bothered by the spectre that a member of this House could be dragged through the mud for doing the job that he does as a public representative. I am very bothered by that.”

It was late last year that Mr. Moss would grab headlines for consecutive weeks over the NIB debacle.

The former NIB chairman was the subject of many media reports after requesting that an investigation being launched into the alleged misuse of company funds by now suspended NIB Director Algernon Cargill.

But only week later, the tables turned and the spotlight was then thrusted on Mr. Moss as it was alleged that he too abused a company issued credit card and used it to pay a $15,000 doctor’s bill for a Grand Bahama woman.

Mr. Moss then sought to air his concerns and displeasure with how the government handled the issue on his Facebook page.

Weeks later, Prime Minister Perry Christie requested his resignation letter, but he refused and was later terminated from that post.

“I have broad shoulders and I know that everyone makes mistakes and there are consequences for your actions,” he added.

“And I don’t say this for me, I don’t go crying over spilled milk, but I say it for this point, anything that impedes the ability of members of this House to speak freely and frankly damages the democratic fabric of this society.”

Mr. Moss said he is bothered by the Powers and Privileges Act of The Bahamas and added that only what a Member of Parliament says in Parliament is protected.

“There’s even a question of whether what we say here when it is printed, if we read it somewhere else is protected,” he added. “It moves from a gray area to almost no answer.

“We’ve been left a little behind with that. I tend to have such broad shoulders, I speak so infrequently I think people believe that to mean I don’t speak. I wait for the machinery to turn.

“In this house we don’t have the same protection because in this House we rely on very ancient concept of protection. I’ve become impatient of the machinery itself. Forget the individual forget the facts and so on we need to strengthen this institution for the good of our country and that involves much more than talking about the edifice.”