NASSAU, Bahamas — Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Press Secretary Clint Watson yesterday called on those who have accused the government of breaking the law in funding of a political trip and having the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) reimburse the Public Treasury, to show which law was broken in the process, The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday, October 28, in an article written by Jasper Ward.
“I’ve heard people, as if it is against the law, and we’re asking, ‘What is the law?’,” said Watson at an OPM press conference.
“You would have heard the opposition leader talk about that yesterday, and we’re still trying to ask him, ‘What law are you referring to?’
“So if you refer to a law, we could look at it and see whether what he’s referring [to] is relevant, but we don’t know about a law. We do ask if he’s referring to anything in particular, to say what it is, so it could be looked into.”
While speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Free National Movement Leader Michael Pintard accused the government of breaking the law in funding a trip to Bermuda where Davis and a delegation, which included government and PLP representatives, attended the convention of the Progressive Labour Party, which has strong ties to the PLP in The Bahamas.
“It is a breach of the law to have a government pay for a political trip and to be reimbursed by a political organization,” Pintard charged. “It is a breach of the law. The question is, will heads roll as a result of it?”
Reporters pointed to the opposition leader’s comments yesterday and asked if there is a concern that the government broke the law, as accused.
Watson responded, “As for breaking the law, I can’t speak to that because I don’t know that. … Remember the prime minister is also the minister of finance, and so he has jurisdiction to approve and to make determinations on certain things.
“In this case, when he recognized there was an element that involves political parties, he made the decision himself to handle the finances from his political party and not to use government.
“No one asked him to do that, no one suggested it to him. That was his determination just based on what he felt he should do, which many people felt was honorable.”
The prime minister and his delegation traveled aboard a Western Air chartered plane to Bermuda last Wednesday and returned on Thursday.
Amid questions and controversy surrounding the political trip, the PLP on Tuesday night released a picture of a check in the amount of $24,750, drawn from a FirstCaribbean International Bank account, and dated October 21 (a day after the delegation’s return). See complete article in the Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/watson-calls-on-fnm-to-say-which-law-govt-broke-in-funding-bermuda-trip/
