The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

WEST Grand Bahama MP Kingsley Smith and Long Island MP Dr Andre Rollins were heckled yesterday as tensions over the Election Day plane crash and “Politician-1” allegations spilled into the ceremonial opening of Parliament.

The tense exchanges began as Mr Smith took his oath, when East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson and Dr Rollins heckled him from the opposition benches.

Dr Rollins could be heard saying, “Don’t take it,” while Mr Thompson repeatedly said, “you gotta answer those questions”. Dr Rollins repeatedly shouted “shame.”

Dr Rollins was later heckled during his own oath by Elizabeth MP Jobeth Coleby-Davis, who repeatedly said, “God help us,” and made groaning sounds.

Dr Rollins responded: “You gonna need it.”

The heckling came after Mr Smith declined to explain his connection to the Election Day charter flight that crashed into the ocean with convicted cocaine smuggler Jonathan “Player” Gardiner on board.

Asked how Gardiner came to be on the plane, Mr Smith said only, “No comment right now, buddy,” and added that the matter would be addressed later.

He called the allegations in a press release “salacious, defamatory and ill-conceived”.

Free National Movement officials have pressed the Davis administration to say what it is doing to identify the person described in a recent United States court filing as “Politician-1”.

Pressure has mounted over allegations that an unnamed politician met inside the House of Assembly with people believed to be members of a drug trafficking cartel, a claim opposition figures said has stained the country’s reputation and raised urgent questions about whether the person could be returning to Parliament.

Dr Rollins previously said he believes the Davis administration knows the identity of the politician referenced in the US court documents.

Meanwhile, many MPs declined to say yesterday whether they were “Politician-1” when asked by The Tribune.