Leslie Miller is not in the Christie Cabinet these days. However, he still proves hugely embarrassing for Prime Minister Perry Christie, who seems content with letting him operate in a manner that ultimately does damage to Christie's leadership image. It is hard to understand, really. But we are reminded about something Christie was quoted as saying to then U.S. Ambassador John Rood in 2005, during his first administration.

"Some ministers were brought into the Cabinet because of their qualifications. Others, like Minister Miller, were included in an effort, at times unsuccessful, to keep an eye on what they're doing," said Christie, according to a United States (U.S.) embassy cable made public by Wikileaks in 2011.

Back then, Christie and Rood were reportedly discussing the Petrocaribe deal, a program under which countries purchase oil from Venezuela on condition of preferential treatment.

"The PM indicated that he has concerns about the Petrocaribe agreement signed on behalf of The Bahamas on June 29 by Trade and Industry Minister Leslie Miller," the cable said. "He stated that Minister Miller 'got way out in front of the Cabinet' on the issue and suggested that Cabinet's eventual consideration of the Petrocaribe agreement would not be favorable."

The 2005 cable added, "Christie has also shown no inclination to silence a minister whose more outrageous comments regularly make for embarrassing headlines."

The Americans also wrote, "Minister Miller is an erratic figure within the Christie Cabinet and his frequent dramatic pronouncements on issues ranging from Petrocaribe, to hurricane relief funding, to liquefied natural gas projects are taken with a large grain of salt."

These days, much of what Miller says should still be taken with a large grain of salt. Although he proved problematic for Christie in his first term as prime minister, Christie appointed Miller executive chairman of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) when he returned to office in 2012. Miller has bounced from one controversy to the next. He has gotten into nasty public spats with BEC union officials. He shamelessly threatened to disconnect power supplies while his family-owned businesses owed BEC more than $200,000.

When The Nassau Guardian made the revelation last summer, Miller's daughter rushed to the corporation and paid $100,000 in cash, a violation of BEC protocol. Christie promised to look into the matter. Of course, that was the last the public heard of it.

Miller's latest blunder was declaring last Sunday that the catastrophic failure of BEC's system on New Providence and Paradise Island last weekend was due to neglect on the part of workers. Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis, who has ministerial responsibility for BEC, eventually released a statement, denying that the workers were at fault. Davis did not acknowledge that it was Miller who had placed the blame on the workers. The DPM seemed to suggest this blaming the workers was something that mysteriously popped up in the media.

"I note the commentaries by various media houses relative to this most unfortunate incident," he said. "Having personally visited the site and having discussed the matter with BEC's management and technical staff, I am satisfied that the fault did not occur as a result of negligence by employees, and it is regrettable that any intimation to that effect was ever issued."

Miller changed his tune, telling The Nassau Guardian he never said the power meltdown happened due to neglect by BEC workers. Somehow, he seemed to have forgotten the interview he gave a couple days earlier. But we were not surprised. Miller's track record is that of someone who changes positions almost quicker than we can write the story. Somewhere out there is a prime minister who sits back and allows the clown show to play out, to his own detriment.

Taking responsibility
After the DPM's statement, we asked Christie, "Are you happy with Leslie Miller as chairman?"

The prime minister told us, "Leslie Miller's unpredictability and his expressions concern me. I've said it to him. I'm in the process of dealing with BEC (choosing a management partner) and I'm nearing the end of that process. And so, you're going to find therefore that real change is going to take place in the country."

We followed up, asking Christie directly why he keeps Miller in his position as chairman when Miller has again proved to be a troublesome appointee.

Christie responded, "I have the responsibility of governing and taking responsibility for all of the people we put in that position. I take responsibility for Leslie Miller. I said it to the union president. I take responsibility in everything he does, because as long as he is there I am responsible and accountable for what he does."

While he seemed to be expressing some disappointment in Miller, the prime minister also praised him.

"I've also said he has made remarkable discoveries and pronouncements about what is wrong with BEC," Christie said. "He has brought to the attention of the government for the first time in a real meaningful way a lot of information that was necessary to guide us going forward. I applaud him for that. But I say again to Leslie, I say to the people of The Bahamas, you cannot fail to recognize that when you have a fallout of the kind or a collapse of the kind... in a country with the hotels filled with rooms and this remarkable speed at which the workers at BEC brought that back, those systems up, you have to applaud that.

"You don't get caught up in controversy where you appear to be going against what they did so well, and I think one of the things that I wanted to say, and I say it again over and over, I applaud them for the speed at which they were able to bring back the energy requirements to meet the normal."

On Wednesday, BEC faced more problems when two of its engines at Clifton failed. Amid outrage from customers, Miller seemed annoyed that people were not seeing "the big picture".

"We have cut out a lot of things at BEC that should not have happened," he said. "But you get no credit; all you get is damn criticism for the petty things. The big picture is we have saved millions of dollars at BEC."

There is no justification for Christie continuing to burden the public with Leslie Miller. His unprofessional, abrasive approach to the affairs of BEC is tiresome. We cannot imagine a BEC, being run by a professional management firm, having anything to do with Leslie Miller. The prime minister is concerned about Miller's antics, so he says. Apparently, he is not concerned enough to cut Miller loose.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian