By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
FREE National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard yesterday accused Prime Minister Perry Christie of “plausible deniability” as he remains tight-lipped on the government’s position regarding the ongoing impasse at the stalled Baha Mar resort.
Mr Pintard suggested that Mr Christie was using tact on the Bahamian people to give the appearance that he is a responsive leader in the event that those whom he has passed the “heavy lifting” to make missteps.
Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Pintard said it was unacceptable that the prime minister had yet to sufficiently make Bahamians aware of his administration’s plans on such an important issue.
On Tuesday, Mr Christie offered vague comments to state broadcaster, ZNS, saying that the government had previously been hopeful that Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian would “not allow the resort to go”. He added that if the Supreme Court appointed a provisional liquidator to oversee the resort, the government would be presented with a “different kind of situation”.
These kinds of piecemeal statements are not sufficient to keep Bahamians inside the loop and allay their fear regarding Baha Mar, Mr Pintard said yesterday.
“Again I think Mr Christie loves to have plausible deniability,” Mr Pintard said, “in other words when this matter first came to light the prime minister claimed that he was blindsided and that he had no knowledge that things were so bad that it would result in the developer filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“No prime minister that is being vigilant should have been caught by surprise on something catastrophic happening that would have happened given the fact that there was no revenue being generated by this development which had two delays in relatively short periods of time.
“So him being quiet is what we have come to expect. But when the prime minister is unable to give a satisfactory answer to tough questions that are being asked (and) he would prefer that others do the heavy lifting there is a problem.”
He continued: “I believe that if they miscalculate either by what they do or say and on the tail end he then has to intervene and it would give the appearance that he was unaware of what was going on or to listening to the public.
“I think it is a simple case of looking for plausible deniability.”
Last week, Mr Christie refused to respond to questions from the media regarding the $3.5bn project’s deadlock said that he has decided to remain silent on anything to do with the resort.
Both the Free National Movement and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) have previously criticised the nation’s leader urging him to break his silence over Baha Mar.
The calls came in response to conflict of interest allegations specifically regarding a revelation from Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson that her husband owns a jewellery store chain with leases to operate in the development.
She had initially said her two daughters, 28 and 30, had leases to operate stores in Baha Mar.
Mr Christie has not spoken to the issue prompting FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis to call on the prime minister and the attorney general to come clean and reveal if there are any other Cabinet ministers, members of Parliament or their family members who have contracts with Baha Mar.
DNA Leader Branville McCartney has also urged Mr Christie to break his silence on the matter.
Mrs Maynard-Gibson has served as the government’s lead negotiator in the Baha Mar discussions in China as interested parties sought to come to an agreement to get the property back on track.
While she had denied assertions that her family’s business puts her in a conflict of interest and has said Mr Christie was aware of the connection, Mr McCartney argued that amid the perceived conflict of interest there has been one voice “notably absent” – Mr Christie’s.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the government and Baha Mar presented their arguments about the Christie administration’s winding up petition against the resort in the Supreme Court yesterday.
If the court appoints a liquidator, control of the resort will be taken away from Mr Izmirlian.
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