Opposition Leader warns of ‘trouble around the corner’ without resignations

By Gareth Finighan and Jonathan Bell

The Opposition Progressive Labour Party is calling for a mass resignation of the One Bermuda Alliance Government, following fresh revelations over the year-long ‘Jetgate’ affair.

PLP leader Marc Bean insisted that his party will do everything possible to ensure that Parliamentary regulations are followed to the letter and that Premier Craig Cannonier and his Cabinet resign “forthwith”.

And he also described Jetgate as “the tip of the iceberg”, claiming that ruling party insiders were now leaking reports of alleged maladministration within Government.

The call was made after US developer Nathan Landow confirmed in yesterday’s Bermuda Sun that he and other businessmen had contributed $300,000 to the OBA’s 2012 election campaign after meeting with Mr Cannonier.

In March 2013, three months after winning that election, Premier Cannonier, along with Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell and Attorney General Mark Pettingill, flew to Washington on Mr Landow’s private jet to meet with the millionaire to discuss potential hotel development on the Island.

Mr Landow insisted that no deal was struck during the meeting, and said he received nothing from the OBA Government in return for his financial contribution to the party.

But Opposition MPs have repeatedly accused Government of covering up details of the junket.

And last night they claimed that Mr Landow’s remarks had exposed contradictions in Government’s version of events.

Speaking in the House of Assembly during the Motion to Adjourn last night, Mr Bean said that silence on the Government benches had resulted in “the most shameful of days in the political life of our country”.

“With Jetgate and the sulphur attached to its manifestation, I held out a minute, meagre morsel of hope that just one of the 19 elected representatives of our current OBA Government would have the courage to hold their own to account — just one,” Mr Bean said.

“The sentence that the code demands is resignations forthwith — not next week, not next year, right now. That’s not what I say; that’s what the Ministerial Code of Conduct says.

“Next week we expect to see internal action to cleanse the sulphuric blood that permeates the OBA/UBP body politic — a blood cleanser — because the whole party is contaminated. Nothing less is expected.

“For our part, we will carry out our constitutional responsibilities to the fullest extent.

“We will take all steps necessary to ensure that the Code of Conduct is upheld and the honourable integrity of this Chamber is enhanced or rebuilt.

“We will do everything necessary if we do not see action for what appears to be a haven of cowardice.

“We’re not going to wait. I don’t think the people are going to wait. Someone or some group will be held accountable.”

The Opposition head went on to describe Government MPs’ contributions to the debate as “childish, arrogant and ignorant — a trifecta of self-destructive characteristics” that amounted to “nothing but cowardice”.

“All this has all led from a culture of dishonesty and deceit,” he said.

Calling it “merely the top of the iceberg”, Mr Bean warned that if it wasn’t “sorted out forthwith, then there’s double trouble around the corner”.

He hit back at claims that Jetgate had been manufactured by the Opposition — saying “all information about the lack of good governance” came from within the OBA ranks, and that “reliable sources” in Government had suggested that other controversies “100 times worse than Jetgate” were being kept under wraps.

“And I know there’s a handful of members on that side who know exactly what I’m talking about,” he added.

After Education Minister Grant Gibbons rose to make a point of order, Mr Bean continued: “There are other issues that are emanating from the OBA that indicate that the Minister who just jumped to his feet is going to have to soon look in the mirror himself. This is information from anonymous sources within the OBA.”

The night’s debate was kicked off by veteran PLP MP Dennis Lister, who praised OBA Chairman Thad Hollis for holding an internal inquiry into Jetgate, suggesting that is showed “backbone”.

But he questioned whether Mr Hollis had the support of other members of his party — and asked where Government MPs stood on the probe.

And Mr Lister said recent revelations concerning the scandal had raised more questions than answers.

Mr Landow’s confirmation that he and associates made a $300,000 campaign donation had been qualified with a statement that the money was paid to a group called the Bermuda Political Action Club, rather than going directly to the party.

““We have never heard of the Bermuda Political Action Club and it would be interesting to see just who the BPAC is, who its members are, who was authorised to receive that money and who was authorised to spend that money,” Mr Lister told the House.

Mr Lister said that the reason Opposition MPs continued to question Government over the issue ws because the facts had never been clarified by the Premier.

“If he doesn’t want to hear these questions over and over, why doesn’t he ask members to provide clarification?” Mr Lister asked.

“We need answers otherwise it puts people in the mindset that there are other matters that were untoward that took place. This could have been long settled had clarification been provided.

Shadow Economic Development Minister Wayne Furbert questioned the Premier’s recollection of a March, 2013 meeting he had with Mr Landow in Washington, DC, which was also attended by Attorney General Mark Pettingill, Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell, and Steven DeCosta, a manager of one of the Premier’s service stations.

Mr Furbert reminded the House that, according to the Premier, Mr DeCosta was simply hitching a ride with the Premier, but eventually attended at least part of the meeting to discuss golf.

But according to Mr Landow, it was never made clear why Mr DeCosta was at the meeting.

“No one in this House believes that story, no one in Cabinet believes that story and no one in the public believes that story,” Mr Furbert said.

Shadow Public Safety Minister Walter Roban said that, with the scandal continually on the front boiler and front pages, Government had felt that Parliamentary sessions were like the movie Groundhog Day.

“It’s not Groundhog Day that they should be concerned about, it’s judgement day,” Mr Robain said.

Shadow Transport Minister Lawrence Scott issued the first resignation call of the night, when he claimed that Government was embroiled in allegations of corruption and had therefore lost the faith of the electorate.

“This is like a virus that is just spreading,” he said. “How do you cure a virus? The only real cure I can think of is to go back to the polls and put in a new Government.”

Several Opposition MPs, including Mr Scott and Shadow Finance Minister David Burt, told the House that the Opposition had brought more legislation before the House than the Government had.

Calling on the OBA to “tell the truth and shame the devil”, Mr Scott asked across the aisle: “Why spend all this time with this? Government hasn’t brought any bills to debate.”

The ministerial code of conduct’s requirement for Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament to resign was invoked by more MPs across the aisle, including Glenn Blakeney — who asked rhetorically: “What if the Minister is the Premier himself?”

Mr Blakeney denounced “collusion and collaboration to get the story right”, saying it could be appropriately described as a cover-up.

Shadow Tourism Minister Zane Desilva launched a blistering attack on Government, pointing out that when it was in the Opposition before 2012, the OBA had attacked the PLP government over “cedar beams that didn’t exist and ‘corruption’ in the PLP every week, week after week”.

“Why then haven’t we seen one former PLP minister pulled up before the courts for corruption?” Mr Desilva asked, with Finance Minister Bob Richards interjecting: “It’s soon coming.”

Mr Desilva called on the Premier to “refute” the statement by Grant Gibbons that Cabinet hadn’t known about the Jetgate trip when Mr Cannonier had said his Cabinet colleagues were aware of it.

He questioned why Mr Cannonier’s Ministerial statement on the meeting with Mr Landow hadn’t mentioned a fourth person attending — Mr DeCosta — and why in reports yesterday by the Bermuda Sun, Mr Landow had mentioned “campaign contributions” of $300,000 which Mr Hollis said he hadn’t received.

“The chairman announced this week there’s going to be an investigation because he never received $300,000. If he didn’t receive $300,000, what’s he going to investigate?”

There was some comeback from the Government side, with the Finance Minister asking why the Public Accounts Committee, now chaired by Shadow Minister Mr Burt, had been “silent” in the last 18 months suggesting Mr Burt “didn’t have the stomach to investigate what essentially were the machinations of his own party while they were in Government”.

Of Mr DeSilva’s question of “Where is the $300,000?” Mr Richards shot back: “What the public want to know is what happened to the $30 to $35 million at Dockyard?”

Mr Burt responded that he’d scheduled 11 additional meetings of the PAC between now and November, and said he would tabled a PAC report “next week, if not the week after”.

And the PLP’s Michael Weeks told the House that “marching is a part of our culture” — and said he was calling on the people of Bermuda to march on Parliament asking those who were involved in Jetgate to come clean.

PLP MP for Pembroke South East Rolfe Commissiong questioned whether Mr Landow’s campaign contribution had financed a “dirty tricks campaign”, using “money that can be used to prey on the economically marginalised to get them to come out and vote”.

He further accused Mr Cannonier of trying to threaten MPs across the aisle into silence by telling them that “we have information on all of you, so be careful”, adding: “All in an effort to save his own political life.”

Mr Cannonier called across to him: “Don’t go there.”

Shadow Attorney General Michael Scott told the OBA would have avoided the Jetgate scandal if the requisite technical officers had been brought along.

Of the repeated questions over the Landow affair, Mr Scott said: “You dare to tell us that we should stop? No. It has been such a grim dropping of the ball that it deserves the firmest critique, the most serious censure of everyone involved.”

David Burt: “People in this country and in this Parliament should be able to trust words that come out of the mouth of the leader of this country.”

Although last night’s debate was dominated by the PLP — just four OBA MPs rose to their feet — Premier Cannonier did occasionally interject with points of order, insisting that he had never lied over the issue.

He wrapped up the session by describing the Opposition’s comments as “colourful” — and insisted that there will be no immediate need for a general election.

“I am sure they (the PLP) would love to be able to have an election today but I need to remind them that the people have already spoken and their opportunity to speak again will be the next general election,” he said.

He pointed out that the last PLP Government had frequently ducked questions on controversial issues, particularly over public construction project funding.

“So many questions were asked about the building of the infrastructure of this country,” he said.

“This country was asking ‘where has all the money gone’, and no questions were answered.”

Mr Cannonier also reminded the House of another controversial plane journey taken in 2009, when then-PLP Premier Ewart Brown secretly brought four Uighurs to the Island.

Dr Brown claimed the incident, which sparked a diplomatic row between the US and UK, had been a humanitarian act.

“What about the humanitarian act of seeking out and getting investment into this country and seeking to get a hotel built,” Mr Cannonier said.