Former Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing yesterday questioned why the Christie administration has engaged consultants from the United Kingdom to advise the government on how a national lottery would work if it has no position on the issue. This week, Christie reiterated that his administration will neither campaign for or against a referendum to determine whether numbers houses - commonly referred to as web shops or web cafes - should be legalized, regulated, licensed and taxed and/or whether a national lottery should be instituted. However, Laing said the fact that the UK lottery consultants are already here suggests that the government has already taken a position.

"It seems to me a very strange thing that a prime minister says that he doesn't have a position on gambling then he goes and talks to consultants about setting up a national lottery," Laing said. "Why would you have an interest in studying something that you wouldn't have a position on? It seems very strange to me. "Now if you hired consultants on whether to have a lottery or not, that's something else. But to have one about the lottery itself, I just don't see it.

But that's, again, a part of the confusion that I see prevailing in the environment that is in government today." Former National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest also urged the Christie administration to do as the Bahamas Christian Council has asked and take a stand on the issue of legalizing gambling. "Otherwise you have anarchy," said Turnquest, who was leader of government business in the House of Assembly under the last Ingraham administration.

"There must be a position that the government takes. We elect a government every five years. They must take a stand. Now they can get a reading from the people by way of a referendum, but governments lead and they ought to lead the society in the way they feel based on their mandate." Christie said rather than state a position, the government will instead actively encourage the "widest possible public discussion of the referendum issues".

But Turnquest said that is not enough. "The Parliament is there; they are representatives of the people and they ought to represent the views of their constituents. I was surprised to see that so many of them did not have a view or did not disclose them," he added, referring to The Nassau Guardian's August 20 headline article which revealed that only 13 members of Parliament (MP) chose to make their positions on the issue known. Christie previously said that MPs ought not to give their personal positions so that they don't influence voters. He also said MPs will not have to vote on the referendum in the House.

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