Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Darron Cash said yesterday that the prime minister appears to not know what to do with the power that he has as the nation’s leader.

While speaking with the Bahama Journal yesterday, Mr. Cash said when it comes to the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), Prime Minister Perry Christie is not using his power.

“He’s got the authority to hold Geoff Houston and the management at BTC accountable and to demand answers from them,” he said.

“I’m not meaning with him just being prime minister, but he is the shareholder of 40 per cent and the controller of three directorships on the board.”

Last week, the prime minister announced that there is a possibility that BTC’s monopoly over the telecommunications industry in The Bahamas could be extended to March 2014, which would make it legally impossible for competition to enter the market.

The chairman bashed the prime minister for bad mouthing BTC in the media, saying that as the nation’s leader, he shouldn’t have to go around speaking badly about the company he has shares in.

“I’ve heard the prime minister several times over complaining about the phone service from BTC, but in all honesty, the place for Mr. Christie to complain isn’t on the steps of Cabinet or Parliament,” he said.
“The place for him to complain is in the boardroom.”

Last week, the prime minister was recorded complaining of the amount of ‘dropped calls’ during cell phone conversations.

Mr. Cash said the nation’s chief should be able to tell that to Mr. Houston instead of telling it to the media.