Former Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette said yesterday that former Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard did the honorable thing when he resigned last week, and charged that Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis should follow suit.

Pintard resigned as FNM chairman and from the Senate amid controversy surrounding his role in an ongoing feud between Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard and his billionaire Lyford Cay neighbor Louis Bacon. Bacon and several others allege that Nygard and lawyer Keod Smith paid two "gang members" to have them murdered.

In tape recordings that accompanied court filings on March 9, the two purported gang members claimed repeatedly that they have ties to the deputy prime minister. But in a statement on March 11, Davis condemned The Tribune's reporting of the court action in which the men alleged they had links to him.

While not assigning guilt to Davis, Symonette said the deputy prime minister should resign.

"Why are you guys wasting time?" he asked. "This is the second most senior government official. In England he would have been gone a long time ago. It's ridiculous to have such allegations against a Cabinet minister.

"He should resign and defend his honor from outside of Cabinet. That's the honorable thing. Pintard has done the honorable thing. We have a government who has a number of [troubles] against it."

Last week, Davis declined to respond directly to claims that he coached criminals but summed up what he called the effort to "besmirch" his name as "political mischief".

"What I say though, Mr. Speaker, is that until such time that these conflicting accounts have been tested, our minds should remain open," said Davis in the House of Assembly.

Earlier this month, Fort Charlotte MP Dr. Andre Rollins attempted to table affidavits, one of which he claimed names Davis as someone who "coached two individuals who the government calls criminals".

Rollins claimed in the House of Assembly that one of the affidavits in relation to the alleged murder plot was "doctored" to remove Davis' name. He was blocked from tabling the affidavits.

Symonette said the government has effectively diverted attention from itself and turned it on the FNM.

Court documents submitted on March 9 outlining the alleged murder plot, identify Pintard as the individual who uncovered the alleged criminal conspiracy following meetings with "gang members", Livingston "Toggie" Bullard and Wisler "Bobo" Davilma.

Since then it has been revealed that Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis met with Bullard on three occasions.

On one of the occasions, Minnis said Bullard asked him to warn Pintard that he was about to be set up by certain government members.

Questions related to Minnis' version of events have spawned calls for his resignation among some FNMs. However, Symonette said yesterday that he won't "waste" time responding to such calls.

"Not because he's my party leader, but because the government has more serious questions to answer," he said.

He said another concern is how Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald was able to get the private emails of certain members of Save the Bays (STB).

Fitzgerald said on Tuesday that he got the emails from his "political garbage can".

But Symonette said Fitzgerald's explanation was not sufficient.

"The disclosure of emails is sending shockwaves in the financial services industry," Symonette said. "And Jerome said he got it out of his political garbage can? That is not enough; that is not sufficient. What does he think we are, idiots?"

Fitzgerald faced questions about the source of his information after he read and tabled an email thread from STB members in the House of Assembly two weeks ago. He also claimed to have financial information on certain members.

During his contribution to the mid-year budget debate on March 17, Fitzgerald claimed that STB is a "political organization" bent on destabilizing the Christie administration.

STB Chairman Joseph Darville said the release of private emails was a "cowardly, cynical and sinister act" calculated to "silence and intimidate" as well as distract from the government's "considerable political troubles".

By Krystel Rolle-Brown

Guardian Staff Reporter

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