Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe yesterday branded Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis the "undisputed flip-flop champion" based on his changing views on gaming.
Wilchcombe, who was speaking in the House of Assembly during debate on the Gaming Bill, said he is confused by Minnis' position on web shops considering that the former administration supported the legalization of the numbers industry.
Minnis recently revealed that the Free National Movement (FNM) will oppose the Gaming Bill. However, he previously expressed support for the regularization of web shops.
"There is no question in our minds that the leader of the opposition is the undisputed flip-flop champion of The Bahamas," Wilchcombe said. "There is no question in our minds. None. I cannot believe it."
But Minnis, who stood on a point of order, said Wilchcombe is "missing the point".
Minnis said the FNM is defending the Bahamian people, who voted against the taxation and legalization of web shops in a 2013 gambling referendum.
But Wilchcombe said Minnis' decision to oppose the government on the gaming issue is politically motivated.
Wilchcombe pointed to several newspaper articles in which former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was quoted voicing his party's support for the legalization of the web shop industry.
In one of the articles, Ingraham said, "The FNM council and parliamentarians support [regularizing web shops]."
Wilchcombe said, "I'm so confused [by] the present leader of the opposition.
"I don't know when he became a member of the FNM. I don't know when he was elected to the House of Assembly. I don't know if he knows when he was a minister because I can't understand it... You said you didn't do anything, but you were a member of the government."
Wilchcombe noted that the Ingraham administration drafted legislation to regulate web shops before it was voted out of office in 2012.
He suggested the Christie administration is unashamed of its decision, adding that it was made in the best interest of the country.
Wilchcombe said he hopes the Bahamian people will "appreciate and understand" the reasons behind the government's decision to regulate web shops.
"Listen, at the end of the day we don't back down from what we believe in," he said.
"Mr. Speaker, that is not what we must do. That is what bothers me with this. We wish to take positions that we think would be politically attractive and sexy and we don't understand that's not leadership.
"The truth is [the former administration] had a position. In fact, I supported that position then and I support the position now.
"And I cannot believe that the present leader of the opposition is now telling us he knew nothing about nothing. He didn't know about the Computer Wagering Licensing Act. He don't know about arrangements for regulations. This was done by the FNM.
"Why are we telling the Bahamian people dishonesty?"
Wilchcombe said he is disappointed in Minnis' position.
"We can't take this country forward until such time as the opposition begins to appreciate that some things aren't political.
"The leader of the opposition, if he's here today he's there tomorrow. He's a Houdini... Leaders don't do that. You stand up for what you believe in."
Minnis said the Progressive Liberal Party has no authority to talk about flip-flopping when it is guilty of doing the same thing in 2002 ahead of the failed referendum on gender equality.
"They are the flip-floppers," he said. "In here they said they voted for the constitutional referendum and when they went outside they changed their mind because they thought it was beneficial."

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