Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip Davis maintaining the party’s stance to move a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis despite Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest calling it a “fools errand”, as well as Dr. Minnis himself, welcoming the idea, adding that move will only show the strength of the Free National Movement’s (FNM) governing team.

The PLP leader, in turn, said, “The prime minister and his sycophants are boasting they will survive a no confidence vote.  They are missing the point.

“The point is to demonstrate to the Bahamian people which members of the FNM will spit in the face of the public and vote to approve corruption and lies.

“The point is to show which FNM politicians are indifferent to widespread public disgust.

“The point is to show that the contagion of moral cowardice has spread throughout their party.

“The point is to see whether anyone in the FNM is prepared to put country, not party, first. If there are few or no takers for that proposition, we will have performed a public service in showing that to be the case.”

Mr. Davis said the FNM government has failed in virtually all instances to follow the rules that govern the disclosure of conflicts of interest. 

The latest incident he referenced was the leasing of the Town Centre Mall to house the General Post Office (GPO), which is co-owned by former Cabinet Minister Brent Symonette, who resigned shortly after. 

In October of last year, a resolution was tabled and passed to house the GPO at the Town Center Mall. Dr. Minnis, at the time, told parliament that Mr. Symonette was not a part of the decision-making process when Cabinet discussed the move.

Mr. Symonette however, disclosed on a local daily talk show, that he and the prime minister discussed the deal in an early morning phone conversation.

To this, Mr. Davis said the prime minister “lied” to the House of Assembly. 
 
“Regarding the lease for the Town Center Mall, a government contract worth millions annually to a company owned by Mr. Symonette and his brother, the prime minister lied to the House of Assembly, maintaining that no conversations with Mr. Symonette had taken place regarding the lease,” Mr. Davis said. 
“The House Resolution, meant to absolve Mr. Symonette of any wrongdoing contradicted Mr. Symonette’s account of the process, effectively creating a constitutional crisis for the government.”

Mr. Davis said the propaganda line “It’s the people’s time” has become a bitter pill to swallow and a kind of cruel joke in the country.