Deveaux did not admit guilt by resignation
tribune242 editorial
THE LATEST scuttlebut making the rounds of the political rumour mill is that by offering his resignation to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Environment Minister Earl Deveaux admitted he was wrong to accept the invitation of Prince Karim Aga Khan to fly in his helicopter to the prince's private island in the Exumas. According to rumour mongers it is an admission by the Minister that the helicopter ride compromised his ability to make an objective decision on the Prince's application for permission to develop his island in the Exuma Land and Sea Park.
Those persons spreading the rumour are either completely ignorant of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, or they are maliciously exploiting the ignorance of the Bahamian people.
There are many reasons why ministers resign from Cabinet. We had an incident as recently as March when Branville McCartney resigned as Minister of State for Immigration. Mr McCartney said at the time that in the forefront of all his issues and emotions was his "feelings of stagnation and the inability to fully utilise" his "political potential at this time."
"We are facing tough times," he said, "but I confidently believe that the nation has been mobilized by Mr Ingraham and the FNM and rallied for a great national effort. I have learned why this Prime Minister and Leader of the FNM is the most successful leader of our party. And it is because of this that I say, I have no sympathy with and will give no credence or comfort to those who would want to use this resignation to undermine his leadership of the FNM and/or The Commonwealth of The Bahamas."
That was one reason for a resignation.
One must remember that when a member is elected to parliament, he is elected by the people. However, when he is made a Cabinet minister it is a position given by the prime minister -- a position that can be taken away at will for a number of reasons. Should anything arise in that ministry that could embarrass the prime minister or his government, then it is the action of a gentleman to go back to the prime minister and offer to resign. It is then up to the prime minister to accept or reject the offer.
In offering his resignation, Mr Deveaux did not admit that he had sold his integrity for a helicopter ride, he just did what was expected of him in the ancient tradition of the Westminster system. Unfortunately there are not many gentlemen left among us today.
This was the same tradition followed by the late Sir Kendal Isaacs when he relinquished the leadership of the FNM after he had led the party to defeat in the 1987 election. However, Opposition leader Perry Christie did not step down as party leader when he lost the government in 2007 to the FNM. He was not duty bound to do so and he chose not to follow tradition.
In the case of Mr Deveaux, Prime Minister Ingraham could hardly punish him for a practice that has been widely used over the years in all administrations when an investor wanted a minister to inspect a project for which he needed permission. It was customary for the investor to provide the transport, which is what the Aga Khan did in the case of Mr Deveaux.
And the Prime Minister certainly could not frown on Mr Deveaux after this practice had been turned into widespread abuse under the PLP government with investors -- with issues before cabinet and various government departments -- even making their aircraft available to fly PLP candidates around the islands during the 2007 election.
We know that the PLP are hungry for political bones to chew on, but it's time to drop this one -- it's going nowhere.
September 23, 2010
tribune242 editorial
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