By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune News Editor
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
WHEN North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish was charged in the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, it marked the first time in the modern Bahamas that two sitting parliamentarians faced serious criminal charges.
Long Island MP Adrian Gibson was charged with bribery and money laundering last year.
Yesterday, former Parliament Clerk Maurice Tynes and former House Speaker Halson Moultrie differed on whether MPs should continue to serve after being charged with serious crimes.
“As a part of the institution for so long, I would prefer if the Westminster conventions are followed whereby if these kinds of things happen to you and you get into these personal problems, you would respect the conventions and resign your seat,” said Mr Tynes, who retired in 2017. “I can’t see any parliamentarians who are under criminal charges –– I don’t see how they could represent their constituents fully and properly.”
No law requires an elected official to resign from parliament when charged with a crime. They are disqualified from office only after being sentenced to more than 12 months in prison.
Mr Moultrie said Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis was right to accept Cornish’s resignation as parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.
“But,” he added, “a member of parliament is presumed innocent until proven guilty just like any ordinary citizen, and they are protected by a certain level of privilege.
“That does not give them impunity or immunity to go and carry out criminal acts, but what that effectively does is make certain that for political purposes, charges are not trumped up against opposition members of parliament because you would open the floodgates if you permit political motives to go after and bring charges against opposing persons.”
Criminal charges against current or former elected officials, once rare, have become more common in recent years.
Some trace the development to former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ pledge to hold public officials accountable, a declaration that was followed by Shane Gibson, Frank Smith, Michelle Reckley and Kenred Dorsett - all former top PLP officials - being hauled before the courts.
Since then, FNM figures - Mr Gibson and former cabinet Minister Lanisha Rolle - have been charged with offenses under a PLP administration. FNM officials are monitoring other ongoing police investigations and expect others may be charged.
“I don’t know if transparency is the real reason for it all or revenge,” said Mr Tynes. “These things have to play out, and the legal process has to take its course.”
Cornish’s case, nonetheless, differed from recent examples in one notable way: it marked the first time in decades that a sitting governing party MP was charged with a serious crime. In 1989, Wilbert Moss, the PLP Acklins and Crooked Island MP, was accused of attempting to bribe a magistrate. Moss resigned his seat on October 19, 1989.
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