FNMs Ready For Court:
By Vanessa C. Rolle -
Nassau, Bahamas:

The Progressive Liberal Party may have won the right to challenge three parliamentary seats, but the Free National Movement will "fight vigorously" to stay in power, Acting Prime Minister Tommy Turnquest said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Bahamas Journal, Mr. Turnquest and several of his colleagues welcomed the challenge by the PLP, noting that they do no fear what the outcome of election court would be.

"We haven’t seen the details of the petition, but it is safe to say that the PLP were in charge of the election process. We won the election under the rules that they set. We will vigorously defend our right to govern," Mr. Turnquest said.

The PLP won 18 of 41 seats in the May 2 general election, and those being contested were lost by 70 votes or fewer.

The PLP is challenging the Pinewood, Marco City and Blue Hills seat.

Attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents PLP candidates in the election court matter, said there is evidence to prove non-Bahamians voted. He said such persons should be prosecuted, imprisoned then deported.

On Tuesday, FNM Blue Hills MP Sidney Collie acknowledged that the PLP has a right to challenge the results under the Constitution and the Parliamentary Act.

However, he said that if some law was broken during the general election, it is all the PLP’s fault.

"If there are grounds, then the grounds would be their fault. They put together the election voter’s list. They chose the staff. They ran the election. All I did was campaign and the people in Blue Hills showed up to vote. I have a copy of the petition and the three grounds are all administrative," said Mr. Collie, who is the Minister of Lands and Local Government.

"They have a ground where they said about 93 people voted who should not have voted because they live somewhere else. They said about 23 people voted who were not entitled to be registered because they are not Bahamians and about nine persons were denied voting even though they showed up to vote. Well, we probably have the same amount of numbers on our side. So we will see what happens," he said.

Mr. Collie said he is confident that at the end of the court proceedings in election court he will still remain the MP for the Blue Hills constituency.

Member of Parliament for Marco City, Zhivargo Laing said he has not been served any papers yet, even though the PLP was granted leave to file since Friday.

"I have not been served a thing in relation to that as yet. They are free to do as they would like to do. We’ll do what we have to do. I have no concerns about it at all. I believe the voters of Marco City have voted and that they have made up their minds as to who they want to represent them for the next five years," said Mr. Laing, who is the Minister of State for Finance.

"If there is something else to be determined by the court, then that’s a matter totally out of my hands. But for the time being, I’m just going to represent the voters of Marco City who voted me to be their representative in the House of Assembly," Mr. Laing said.

The PLP decided not to go ahead with challenging the Golden Isles and Sea Breeze seats, even though some PLP members had indicated that was the plan.

The FNM’s Carl Bethel won the Sea Breeze seat by 64 votes, and Charles Maynard took the Golden Isles seat by 62.

Mr. Maynard told The Journal that he is somewhat relieved that his opponent, Michael Halikitis, chose not challenge the results. In fact, he called it a smart move by the PLP.

"It was wisdom. I think it was very smart of them because the reality is that election is over and the people have made their decision. It’s unheard of in Bahamian history for 62 votes to be overturned in election court. In recent times we’ve not even had 10 votes overturned. It would not have been a wise case to pursue," said Mr. Maynard, who is the Minister of State for Culture.

"Michael Halkitis and I ran one of the most decent campaigns in the whole Bahamas and I happy that he decided not to pursue that course and decided to serve in the Senate and serve the people from there. I’m relieved because it is one less thing that I have to concern myself with. I could concentrate more on representing the people and serving as an executive," he said.

After the Opening of Parliament on Wednesday May 23, there was a 21-day window to file petitions to proceed with legal action.

20 June 2007