Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Perry Christie said in an interview broadcast yesterday that he is satisfied that former ministers Shane Gibson and Leslie Miller are suitable to run in the upcoming general election despite the controversies that have surrounded them.
Christie said he has carefully examined all of the candidates the party will run in the election so they may stand up to any scrutiny.
"I want the Bahamian people to know that I have made an exhaustive investigation of all of the colleagues running for me," said Christie, who was a guest on the Star FM radio program 'Jeffrey' with host Jeff Lloyd.
"I have satisfied myself that they are not in any kind of position to be attacked for any wrong or fault that they have done, and if I am wrong please bring the evidence to show I am wrong."
Christie pointed to Miller's contributions as a businessman.
"Whatever Leslie Miller's mistakes were in life, Leslie Miller has created a facility where young people go for wholesome entertainment," said Christie, referring to Mario's Bowling Alley, which is owned by Miller.
"I said what would motivate a man to try to denigrate him, to demean him?  What would motivate the prime minister to do that, just for politics?  Why does he believe he could put a stain on people and have that stain stay there?"
Miller was the MP for Blue Hills for the PLP in 2002 to 2007.  He lost in 2007 to the Free National Movement's (FNM) Sidney Collie.  Miller is the PLP's candidate for Tall Pines (the constituency's new name) in the upcoming election.
As minister of trade and industry, Miller once had a public spat with an investor at Cat Cay over a proposed liquefied natural gas project; committed the country to joining the controversial Venezuela-sponsored PetroCaribe initiative without the consent of Cabinet; defied then Prime Minister Perry Christie on one occasion in the House of Assembly over the operations of the Office of the Attorney General, and accused the Christie administration of agreeing to an inflated sum for a new downtown straw market.
He has said he will never be in another Cabinet again.
Christie also acknowledged while on the radio program that former minister Shane Gibson had problems during his tenure as immigration minister, but he said the people of Golden Gates vindicated him when they re-elected him in 2007.
In a post-election report sponsored by the PLP leadership in 2007, Gibson was listed as one of the reasons the PLP lost the election.  Another key reason given was Christie's failure to properly deal with some members of his Cabinet who brought embarrassment to the party.
Gibson resigned from the Cabinet months before the 2007 election after pictures of him and the late American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, in an intimate embrace on her bed, appeared in The Tribune newspaper.
Christie pointed to controversies that existed in a previous cabinet of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
"Ingraham had major problems from a Public Accounts Committee with (ministers) Tommy Turnquest [and] Dion Foulkes," Christie said. "He had problems himself with (now deputy prime minister) Brent Symonette.
"He doesn't apply the same standards to his party.
"The record reflects, Brent Symonette gave himself a contract [and] was dismissed as a result of it.
"But the people of St. Anne's or Montagu brought him back to Parliament [and] vindicated him... the same way the people of Golden Gates looked at... Shane Gibson and vindicated him.
"Ingraham makes Brent Symonette a deputy prime minister for God's sakes.  I caused Shane Gibson to resign."
He continued, "How could you, with these massive contradictions, start talking nonsense to me?"
When the issue of Mona Vie arose with Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing, Christie said Ingraham did nothing.
The PLP accused Laing of adjusting the customs rate on the Mona Vie juice to benefit a family member.  It's a claim Laing has repeatedly denied.  The minister has filed a law suit in connection with the matter.
"The FNM is just a party [that pretends] these things don't happen," Christie said.  "...That's the ostrich sticking [its] head in the sand and getting [its] backside exposed and believing nobody is looking at [it].
"He (Ingraham) goes on pretending that these people are lilly white and did not have their hands in the cookie jar."
Ingraham recently noted that the PLP did not include some incumbents in its TV campaign ad now running.  He suggested that this is because these men were embroiled in scandals.
Christie has also faced pressure from a few members of his party not to run Miller, Gibson and several others, including Vincent Peet (North Andros and the Berry Islands) and V. Alfred Gray (MICAL).
In May 2011, three prominent PLPs sent Christie a letter advising him that the party could lose the next election if it ratified these incumbents.
The authors of the letter -- former MPs George Smith and Philip Galanis, and former PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby -- said the men have been embroiled in controversies that would reflect badly on the party during the campaign.
The party ratified all of the men, except Peet, an attorney who became involved in a fresh controversy late last year over an issue involving $180,000 in client funds.
While on the program, Christie also pointed out that he has already acknowledged the 'mistakes' he made while in office and has apologized for them.

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