Marco City MP Gregory Moss said the government is using public funds on a propaganda exercise to sway the minds of Bahamians to agree with the proposed constitutional referendum on gender equality. The former National Insurance Board chairman said instead of cherry picking issues that the Constitutional Commission presented in its report in July 2013, the government should maturely look at the report and present a new constitution.

“You do not go through this propaganda exercise that the government has now embarked upon where we are using public money to inform public opinion to change the minds of the public, which frankly is totally contrary to the constitution,” he said. “But we’ve done that. Both parties have signed on to that and no one seems to be alarmed at that.

“The constitution says certain fundamental provisions ought not to be changed without the consent of the people. In order to affect that consent and to persuade that consent, you are using public money and public fora to try to change the minds of the people. That is troubling to me in the extreme.”

Moss said the government should consider the “real issues”.

“I think the better exercise is to maturely consider that report and to come to the House first with a new constitution — not with patching and trying to fix little issues that are of concern to you, but don’t address the real issues — one that addresses the constitution in a way that is representative of how the people see the country, meaning when we get to things like crime and punishment and capital punishment and so on,” Moss said.

Prime Minister Perry Christie appointed the Constitutional Commission in 2012 to “conduct a comprehensive review of the constitution of The Bahamas, and to recommend changes to the constitution”.

Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney has said that the commission has no horse in the race on the issue. He said the commission’s charge is to present the issues as they are. The commission’s public education team, led by retired Justice Rubie Nottage, has traveled throughout The Bahamas in recent months.

Moss has said that he does not support constitutional amendment bills number two and four.

“If they are passed I will do my best to make sure that they are not passed by the people,” he said. “I believe the proper exercise is to go internally into the House, in a committee level and look to a brand new constitution and see if we can form some sort of consensus on that and then speak to the people in a united way, not this cherry picking of certain issues that some people see as important while ignoring all of the other profound issues that were identified by the Constitutional Commission and that need to be addressed.”

Bill number two seeks to enable a Bahamian woman who marries a foreign man to secure the same access to Bahamian citizenship that a Bahamian man enjoys. The fourth bill would make it unconstitutional to discriminate against someone based on sex. Many fear the bill could lead to same-sex marriage in the country.

A referendum on the bills is expected to take place before the end of June, according to the government. However, the four bills remain in the committee stage in the House of Assembly. Christie has said that he does not want to delay the referendum again. The referendum has been delayed four times.

In order for constitutional changes to take place, the bills must be approved with at least three quarters support in both the House of Assembly and Senate. The bills must then be approved by a simple majority of voters in a referendum. A similar referendum held in 2002 was defeated.

Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis has said that the Free National Movement (FNM) will not oppose the bills. However, St. Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman and Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant have said that they do not support bill number four.