by Simon
Philip “Brave” Davis’s Suitability to be Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis recently declared that he is “ready for the job” of prime minister if a vacancy came about:
“My plans are dependent on what the prime minister does. It depends on what he does. If there is a vacancy, I’ll be there.” Asked what he would bring to the job of prime minister, Davis glibly and arrogantly replied, “Me.”
Unfortunately, his record in public office demonstrates that he is unsuitable to be prime minister. Davis has demonstrated abysmally poor judgment He has helped to lower standards in public life. He has proven to be shockingly incompetent. And he has proven repeatedly and unabashedly disingenuous. There are also other reasons.
Davis has his supporters. He has the deep pockets and the access to money and backers to finance a leadership bid. But to many inside the PLP and in the public at large, he remains an unsuitable and deeply problematic choice for prime minister.
Prime Minister Perry Christie is reportedly vehemently opposed to Davis succeeding him and will do all in his power to block such a possibility.
Davis’s vaunting ambition for power has led to unsavoury choices. During the 2012 general election Davis stooped to a historic low with the erection of billboards highlighting certain crime statistics, including in areas heavily trafficked by tourists. It was a petty and belligerent idea, unbecoming of a national leader. The billboards were removed. Davis said that they were erected in the interest of “the truth”.
BLUEWATER
Might “the truth” include details of various business dealings including the details of his involvement with the not publicly traded phantom Bluewater company which sought to buy BTC from the government?
A press statement released by the FNM on Bluewater noted that the PLP’s deputy leader was previously handsomely paid “as the attorney for Bluewater, a company which had no track record in telecommunications, and unknown beneficiaries. The company also had no financial statements or organizational support, and there was absolutely no clarity about its shareholders.
“The Bluewater scheme which Mr. Davis aided and abetted would have allowed the unknown entity to hold on to more than $120 million of BTC’s funds which was not in the best interest of Bahamians or BTC employees or the fiscal health of the country.”
Back to Davis’s interest in truth-telling: Might “the truth” include more details on the Renward Wells Letter-of-Intent affair? Might “the truth” include more details from the minister with responsibility for BEC on the highly secretive process to privatize the corporation?
Certainly the truth would countermand the inaccurate narrative he provided on BAMSI as he misled the House of Assembly and the country. But we are getting ahead of the narrative.
The erection of the billboards could have damaged our leading industry. Today, in the supposed interest of truth, perhaps Davis, the Minister of Works, would be happy to erect billboards advertising the current murder rate under the PLP, which may be heading for a tragic record.
Or would he craft some type of legalistic gobbledygook as to why such numbers should not be advertised on billboards in the interest of “the truth”.
While Davis was exercised about the crime statistics during an FNM administration, after the PLP assumed office he said that crime was being overplayed. The Nassau Guardian’s Royston Jones Jr. reported:
“Despite being robbed at gunpoint in his home last month, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said The Bahamas is not ‘as dangerous as it is made out to be...Davis was responding to a question from The Nassau Guardian about the security upgrades at his West Ridge home following a December 8 [2013] armed robbery.”
Davis was quoted: “ ‘We do have pockets of young men who have lost their way and are wreaking havoc, but I think it is all confined within what I call groupings.’ ”
DISCREPANCY
The reporter did not fail to note the discrepancy between Davis’ recent statement and one made just some months ago. As reported:
“His [Davis’] claim that The Bahamas is not as dangerous as it is made out to be came months after he declared that ‘no one is safe from crime’ in The Bahamas.,,Davis made that statement after one of his police aides was shot in eastern New Providence ... ”
For the man who promoted the very public and gratuitous display of crime statistics at various roundabouts in order to score political gain to say that crime was overplayed was an orchard of hypocrisy fuelled by noxious fertilizer.
The level of disingenuousness on BAMSI and crime by Davis is shocking. Misleading the House on BAMSI is but part of a deeply disturbing pattern. There is much more.
In the lead-up to the last general election, Davis promised that the PLP would cause the creation of 10,000 new jobs in the first year. That was in itself a stretch. But even though those jobs did not materialize Davis claimed that they have.
Then Davis undermined the integrity of the Department of Statistics, stating that he did not believe the last unemployment statistics, which revealed a steep increase in unemployment under the PLP.
It was in keeping with his recent undermining of the Auditor General, both acts of which undermine public standards and the independence of certain public officials, and makes Davis unsuitable to head the Government of the Bahamas.
In a display of the gross hypocrisy at which Davis has become adept he was happy to use unemployment numbers from the Department of Statistics to criticize the FNM. He accepted the statistics then. Then when he came to office the numbers suddenly became suspect.
On December 2, 2011, Davis, along with some of his colleagues stood with the Atlantis Resort as the backdrop, demanding transparency over the details of a deal selling the resort to an investment firm. Davis addressed then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham:
“The countdown begins today, Prime Minister. We do not intend to drop this matter until you do the right thing. A lot of families are counting on those jobs – the government owes them clarity and transparency.”
WHOLESALE
The reporter did not fail to note the discrepancy between Davis’ recent statement and one made just some months ago. As reported:
“His [Davis’] claim that The Bahamas is not as dangerous as it is made out to be came months after he declared that ‘no one is safe from crime’ in The Bahamas.,,Davis made that statement after one of his police aides was shot in eastern New Providence ... ”
For the man who promoted the very public and gratuitous display of crime statistics at various roundabouts in order to score political gain to say that crime was overplayed was an orchard of hypocrisy fuelled by noxious fertilizer.
The level of disingenuousness on BAMSI and crime by Davis is shocking. Misleading the House on BAMSI is but part of a deeply disturbing pattern. There is much more.
In the lead-up to the last general election, Davis promised that the PLP would cause the creation of 10,000 new jobs in the first year. That was in itself a stretch. But even though those jobs did not materialize Davis claimed that they have.
Then Davis undermined the integrity of the Department of Statistics, stating that he did not believe the last unemployment statistics, which revealed a steep increase in unemployment under the PLP.
It was in keeping with his recent undermining of the Auditor General, both acts of which undermine public standards and the independence of certain public officials, and makes Davis unsuitable to head the Government of the Bahamas.
In a display of the gross hypocrisy at which Davis has become adept he was happy to use unemployment numbers from the Department of Statistics to criticize the FNM. He accepted the statistics then. Then when he came to office the numbers suddenly became suspect.
On December 2, 2011, Davis, along with some of his colleagues stood with the Atlantis Resort as the backdrop, demanding transparency over the details of a deal selling the resort to an investment firm. Davis addressed then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham:
“The countdown begins today, Prime Minister. We do not intend to drop this matter until you do the right thing. A lot of families are counting on those jobs – the government owes them clarity and transparency.”
WHOLESALE
In 2015, with Baha Mar in shambles, a lot of families “counting on those jobs”, and questions raised about the government’s handling of the entire Baha Mar affair, including the quality of construction at the resort and what the Ministry of Works knew and did, or did not do, about the allegedly shoddy construction, there has been a wholesale lack of “clarity and transparency” by the PLP.
Davis, the Minister of Works has not given a full accounting of his ministry and stewardship relative to quality control and oversight at Baha Mar. Perhaps he should stand in front of Baha Mar, with cameras in tow, and provide exhaustive details about what his ministry knew or should have known about the considerable construction problems at Baha Mar.
The countdown is on as to how long it will take the PLP to resolve the Baha Mar matter, the collapse of which may lead to a deep recession and economic meltdown. For its part, Atlantis continues to operate well.
Davis used to tout his competence, despite the many things he has never done for Cat Island as its MP for decades since 1992, despite questions raised about his oversight at Baha Mar, and despite his inability to keep parks, beaches, verges, medians, roundabouts and other such public spaces properly maintained, with Davis even saying such maintenance was not a priority.
Davis’s most colossal failure to date is at BAMSI, which is an utter disaster. There remain questions about millions in untendered contracts. Contracts were given to contractors who did not have all-risk insurance. Davis has proven spectacularly incompetent at BAMSI.
Then there was his misleading of the House of Assembly, a matter over which he should have immediately resigned. In failing to resign he has dramatically lowered public standards. This failure suggests that as prime minister he would similarly allow such low standards to obtain in his cabinet.
Davis unequivocally told the House that the contractor of the fire-gutted dormitory had all-risk insurance at the signing of the contract. He also emphatically stated that the contract expired before the fire because of delays in the project and the failure of the contractor to pay the annual premium. None of this was true.
EGREGIOUS
This is particularly egregious because Davis not only provided alleged facts that proved to be wrong. He also supplied a false narrative when he said the insurance had lapsed, even providing a detailed narrative as to why the insurance had lapsed.
What is troublingly curious is that it took six weeks after the fire for Davis to propose his narrative, which proved patently false. Clearly, he had more than enough time to get the facts and to inform the House. Again, curiously, the Queen’s Counsel provided the false narrative before he claimed that he eventually saw the file.
Despite all of this Davis still has the gall to claim that he did not mislead the House. By his disgraceful conduct he has demonstrated conclusively why he is not suitable to be prime minister. Davis evinces a pattern that whenever his conduct is found wanting, he often goes on the offensive utilizing indirection, certain legalese and slick talk, as he has in the BAMSI matter.
Added to all of this are the numerous questions concerning the Urban Renewal and the Small Home Repair Program. This includes the government’s attempt to stymie the work of the Public Accounts Committee to investigate a damning report by the Auditor General on the programme, and Davis’s recent attempt to undermine the Auditor General with a report of his own.
Given Davis’s track record in public life thus far and his conduct as Minister of Works and DPM, it is alarming to imagine how he would conduct himself as prime minister.
This article was approved by the Perry Gladstone Christie for PM campaign. Lady Pindling what say you?
Posted by: Nigel Gray | September 21, 2015 at 04:01 AM