Dear Editor,
It seems as if only in The Bahamas could a politician run for office or re-election. It has been reported that Peter Turnquest (FNM — East End), former minister of finance and deputy prime minister, will not be getting a re-nomination from his current party.
This is the way it should be. If massive legal issues are pending where one is a party, it would send a dead wrong message to the electorate. No one, least of all me, is accusing Turnquest of anything sinister but he is obliged to fully have his name and reputation sanitized before he could reenter electoral politics. He has been accused of doctoring critical financial statements and invoices involving a former foreign “partner” in Sky Bahamas and other entities.
He has, however, not yet been joined as a party to a civil action in which Randy Butler is named as the primary defendant. As a trained lawyer, I wonder why Turnquest has not yet been sued. It is my opinion that the PM wanted to get rid of Turnquest long time ago as he may have been viewed as a potential political threat. We all know that Bahamian prime ministers do not tolerate perceived replacements too kindly.
This is confirmed by the fact that Michael Scott, the legal eagle who filed the civil law suit, did so while serving as an FNM (Free National Movement) political appointee to the Our Lucaya Divestment Committee. As of right now he still serves in that position while Turnquest was obliged to resign his Cabinet post.
Now, Turnquest seemed to have confirmed that the FNM will not re-nominate him while Scott is still in charge! Grand Bahama, however, will not forget or forgive the PM and the FNM for continuing the jacking up of that island under successive governments. Good riddance to Turnquest — the “dumbest minister of finance ever”, in my view. I am convinced that the interim PM is positioning Renward Wells to succeed him as party leader somewhere down the road after at least one term in office by Brave as prime minister.
Ortland H Bodie Jr
Business consultant and talk show host
