The Minnis administration can forget about getting the opposition’s support on the Interception of Communication 2017 Bill.

In fact, the Progressive Liberal Party is accusing the Free National Movement of doing an about-face on the issue, particularly considering the uproar it made when the bill was introduced by the Christie administration and the accolades it’s now getting.

While the government touted that key changes were made to the proposed law to ensure it struck a balance between protecting Bahamians and their privacy, Opposition Leader, Philip Davis, strongly disagreed. 

“The criticisms of the bill that emanated from the Privy Council which dealt with the Listening Devices Act, which was what I called a bill which prohibited the use of listening devices for the interception of private conversations etc.

“And I lamented the fact that in a modern democratic society, it should not be in the hands of politicians to determine whether a person’s right to privacy should be so tampered upon,” he said.

“Their bill is regressive because it still remains in the hands of the politicians to intercept communications for any offence.”

Englerston MP, Glennys Hanna-Martin, who also spoke toward the issue, made it clear that the PLP will not support the bill as is, particularly considering the bill her government brought was more philosophically sound.