NASSAU, Bahamas — Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said on Monday (November 23) that Cabinet is “deliberating” over how it will handle fraud allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, The Tribune reported.
“It’s a court matter right now and Cabinet is deliberating,” Dr Minnis told reporters Monday morning following a grant ceremony by the Small Business Development Centre. “We’ll get back to you as soon as Cabinet completes our deliberation and discussion.”
Asked if he was concerned the allegations against his second-in-command would hurt his party’s standing in the next general election, Dr Minnis suggested this would not be an issue.
“I think the people know exactly what we’re doing. The people know our heart. The people know the challenges we faced in terms of Irma when we first came in. We were challenged with Hurricane Irma. We were the first government to have embarked on air evacuation from the south to ensure that there were no deaths during that hurricane and in spite of that an economic programme continued to move forward. Then we were challenged with Dorian and in spite of that we continued to move forward.
“And now we’re plagued with COVID and the entire world is plagued with COVID and in spite of that we continue to focus our concentration on building a better Bahamas…”
Dr Minnis’ remarks were the first time he spoke publicly about the situation since the allegations came to light last week.
This comes after pressure mounted over the weekend from PLPs who demanded answers from government and the resignation of Mr Turnquest over damaging fraud allegations.
Yesterday, just after documents of a second case of allegations against Mr Turnquest emerged, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis, issued another statement calling for Dr Minnis to address the matter.
On Friday, Mr Davis said Mr Turnquest should resign. If he did not, he said the Prime Minister should demand it. See full Tribune article at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/nov/23/pm-cabinet-deliberating-how-handle-turnquest-fraud/
