Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Sidney Collie said yesterday former Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) Chairman Dion Smith is "pretending to be a victim" following comments that he is "afraid" of what the Minnis administration will do next, now that the theft probe that led to Smith's arrest found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Smith said he believes the government is trying to "destroy" the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
In an interview with The Nassau Guardian, Collie said that as a senior lawyer and the former member of Parliament for Nassau Village, Smith "ought to know better".
"Dion knows what the due process is in the courts, in the Office of the Attorney General and [with the] commissioner of police," Collie said.
"He knows what each of those areas of government's responsibilities are.
"And there is no need for him to alarm the public by insinuating that the government is after him or after anyone, without cause.
"...If the commissioner of police is acting on information received, and asked him to come in and answer some questions, this is what happens in the course of thousands of Bahamians' lives every day.
"They are asked to come in.
"Many of them are arrested and taken in to answer questions.
"And the reason for that is the police may have certain leads, may have certain information, they need to ask certain questions in order to satisfy themselves that no crime has been committed.
"If no crime has been committed, Dion Smith need not fear."
Police had said they were investigating a report of theft of electronic items on the night of the May 10 general election.
Smith was arrested, held overnight and released the next day.
Eight BAIC employees were also questioned and released.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said last week that, "The stuff removed was apparently his (Smith's). Persons thought different. We found out it is not so; so in relation to this there was no evidence of any wrongdoing."
Collie charged yesterday that Smith's comments are nothing but "political pandering, designed to give the impression that this government, just like the Leader of his party (Philip Brave Davis) said, is on a witch hunt".
"Nothing could be further from the truth," he insisted.
"The government came into office, discovered a number of things...so it started some investigations.
"In the course of the investigations, BAIC came on the radar. That is what happened.
"Nothing less. Nothing more. I think Dion Smith is crying foul for selfish political reasons.
"He is pretending to be a victim, but he is not."
When asked about Smith's assertions that the government is trying to destroy the PLP, Collie insisted the FNM has no intention of destroying the PLP.
"The FNM loves and thrives on democracy," he added.
"We do not want a one-party state. We are not trying to destroy the PLP.
"But we came in on a mandate, a very clear mandate.
"And one of our promises, at the top of the list, is to clean up corruption.
"And nothing Dion Smith or anybody else says is going to derail us from that.
"The government is going to flush out corruption wherever it exists and clean up this Bahamas.
"It's as simple as that.
"We are not on a witch hunt. We are not out to destroy any political party.
"I saw some other public personalities being amazed with the work of the government.
"Well, they all need to relax. The government is only doing what it said it was going to do."
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