Leader of the Opposition Michael Pintard charged in the House of Assembly yesterday that the Davis administration is looking to discontinue cases against PLPs while going after FNMs.
Pintard did not expand on what he was talking about and no member of Parliament took exception to the controversial claim, which came at the very end of his contribution to debate on the Nurses and Midwives Bill, 2022, in which he took liberties in raising certain off-topic issues.
“Madam Speaker, I close simply by saying, there’s one rule for this administration and there’s a different rule for the Bahamian people,” he said.
“They are looking to nolle cases related to anyone in their administration who is charged.
“There are thorough investigations for FNMs and others, but they’re not thorough investigations for them, not thorough. There’s one rule for this new day government and a different rule for the Bahamian people, a different rule.”
While Pintard did not elaborate on what he was talking about, Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander on Friday told reporters a police matter involving former Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Lanisha Rolle is “very much active”, though he did not give any details about what the matter entailed.
Rolle was a member of the Minnis Cabinet. She resigned months before the last election.
She has previously maintained that all her actions as minister have been within the confines of the law.
“I certainly believe that in due time, the truth will be exposed,” Rolle said last November.
On Friday, the commissioner of police also told reporters that an investigation into claims that Minister of Transport and Housing JoBeth Coleby-Davis hit a police officer with her car last year has been closed due to insufficient evidence.
Fernander said “investigators in our legal team” viewed the file and made that determination.
“So, that matter is closed,” he said.
The commissioner provided an update on both matters after he was asked a question by a ZNS reporter, who inquired about the status of those probes.
The most prominent legal matter involving an FNM is the case against member of Parliament for Long Island Adrian Gibson, the former executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), who appeared in court last June on corruption charges.
Gibson is the only FNM parliamentarian who has been charged with a crime since the last election.
He is awaiting trial. Gibson was in Parliament yesterday.
In a move that was unprecedented, three former PLP parliamentarians were brought on corruption charges after the Free National Movement won the government in 2017: former ministers Shane Gibson and Kenred Dorsett, and former senator Frank Smith.
Gibson and Smith have since been acquitted.
Dorsett waited nearly five years for a trial, which never occurred.
Last March, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) issued a nolle prosequi in his case after the main witness, Jonathan Ash, indicated his intention to not testify.
Nolle decisions are made by the DPP, an independent position.
The Nassau Guardian reported on March 24, 2022 that the Davis administration reached a $2.5 million settlement with Gibson.
The status of any possible settlements with Smith and Dorsett is currently unknown.
