As campaign promises go, the declaration by Perry Christie that he would take back controlling interest in The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) was a standout.
While on the campaign trail, he was asked by The Nassau Guardian how he would go about getting back the majority interest in BTC.
Christie admitted that the idea had not yet been fleshed out, but he vowed that he would meet with the government's legal advisors upon election and take all legal means necessary to get BTC back.
He appointed a special committee -- headed by prominent businessman Franklyn Wilson -- to negotiate with Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC), but no one should be surprised that CWC has not budged from its position that it intends to hang on to the 51 percent of shares it bought from the Bahamian government in 2011, under then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
After all, the deal appears to have been a legal one in every respect.
We have since heard that there were "shocking" elements of that deal, negotiated by a committee led by now deceased statesman and financial giant T. Baswell Donaldson.
But while statements of a bad deal have been made repeatedly in recent months, the public has not yet been let in on what the discoveries were.
Perhaps it is the government's view that showing its hand in this regard could further sour talks with CWC that have thus far been fruitless.
In the face of an early warning from Christie, ahead of the final sale, the company went ahead with the purchase. Although it has struggled with service and has faced steady criticisms, it remains today the legal owner of 51 percent of the shares.
All signs from Prime Minister Christie point to a tough go at trying to regain majority control.
But if he is to fulfill an important campaign promise, he must find a way to deliver.
At this point, it appears quite doubtful he will.
Last week, Christie admitted to reporters that the government can not afford to buy back shares in BTC.
To be fair, the prime minister never said the government would buy back the shares, but it was a reasonable assumption.
While Christie has never given a timeline for the reacquisition and it is his prerogative how long he pushes ahead with this bid, it seems the time has come for him to be more upfront with the Bahamian people on this whole effort.
If the government can not afford to buy back shares, what then is the plan to once again become a majority owner in BTC?
What is the timeline for achieving this, and what would the government do if CWC does not change its position?
We recently put these questions to the prime minister, but the answers were vague and confusing.
"I will have to act," he said when asked what he would do if CWC does not change its position.
"One of the points I made is that there's a lot of [unfounded] observations being made and the prime minister of The Bahamas is fully aware that he represents 49 percent of the shareholders and that he ought not to take any steps that are harmful to that 49 percent."
Perhaps repeated claims that the deal was horrendous are a part of some hardball tactic from the government.
But if it is true that the Ingraham administration negotiated a bad deal, we can not wait to see those details.
And we can not wait to see how the prime minister will go about reacquiring the majority interest.
Of course, there are people who believe the government can, will and must follow through on this pledge for various reasons.
"This is a sovereign nation," said George Smith, who in 1991 was chairman of BaTelCo (now BTC).
"If the government of the Bahamas appreciates the importance of BTC in terms of our communications throughout the country and in terms of our financial service, tourism etc. it must take it back."
Asked how he thought it could be done, Smith said, "A sovereign government in a sovereign nation can always find a formula in the national interest and I believe that BTC is vital in the national interest."
He further opined, "This thing probably would not have remained an important item on the national agenda if BTC was providing the kind of service necessary in this archipelago. But they are simply not providing service at a high standard."
Probe
Now in the seat of power, Christie and his team certainly have access to all the information they need to assess the deal they always thought was against the national interest.
While in opposition, Christie said, "The FNM administration under Hubert Ingraham has made a grave mistake voting to sell BTC to a foreign group.
"It is a mistake because we have at this juncture a once in a life time opportunity to transfer wealth to the Bahamian people on an unprecedented scale. The FNM through its policy of selling BTC at a fire sale price has missed that opportunity."
The new government has had enough time to examine the deal.
Presumably, it has information in hand to back up claims of a bad or horrendous deal.
Christie has said he is contemplating the establishment of a select committee to probe the sale.
While a resolution was recently passed to examine allowances for Parliamentarians and the feasibility of building a new Parliament -- something that appears unlikely in this term -- no select committee has yet been appointed to probe the sale of the 51 percent shares.
A campaign promise by now Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis to push for a commission of inquiry to look into the sale has long fallen by the way side.
Davis said at a rally last April, "Investigations into that sale should include matters related to the selection of the Cable and Wireless company as the preferred purchaser of the Bahamian peoples' valuable and profitable asset."
Davis said not long after coming to office he still supports the appointment of a commission of inquiry, but for now the government must deal with "more pressing issues".
"I said I would support such an inquiry and that would be a matter that Cabinet would have to discuss and deal with," he told The Guardian.
He explained that the government had not yet reached the stage to appoint a commission.
"We will deal with the more pressing issues that are facing us now, which are crime and the economy," he said.
"Those are things that we are interested in now. We have not forgotten BTC but at the moment we are trying to get our streets safe again."
In reality, it is not clear why a probe is needed into the sale.
If the prime minister has evidence that shows the deal was "a very bad deal" as he has said more than once, then he should bring it to Parliament and lay it on the table.
Everyone would be able to see exactly what the team negotiating the take back of the shares has discovered, and what the government has discovered relating to BTC.
The time has come to lay it all out.
If the former government negotiated a bad deal, lay it on the table.
Shares
To be clear, Christie has remained consistent in his take back pledge.
But while the former administration announced it planned to sell nine percent of its remaining stake in the telephone company to the Bahamian public, this is not now a plan of the Christie-led government.
He reiterated this just last week.
"We knew that the Free National Movement (FNM) government had decided to sell shares," Christie said.
"I think [it was] nine percent of the shares in BTC to be able to cover certain shortfalls.
"We elected as a matter of policy because we had a different view as to how the BTC shares should be dealt with, not to sell those shares.
"And as a result we did not have whatever would have come from the sale of BTC to go ahead with."
Christie was speaking in the context of the government's overall fiscal challenges, noting that the government can not look forward to proceeds from a public offering because it has taken a policy decision not to sell shares, but to acquire more.
Geoff Houston, the BTC CEO and president, made an interesting remark about the government's BTC profits that has not been refuted by the government.
Houston announced last year that the government was receiving almost double the revenue from BTC as a 49 percent owner than it did when it owned the entire company.
"In 2010, BTC reported annual net earnings of $12.8 million," Houston said.
"And since privatization we paid dividends to government of $8.8 million with another $20 million coming this year. So you can say we've almost doubled the returns to government in a 12-month period."
It seems that in this debate, many people forget that the government is still a part owner of BTC.
The government ought to be careful it does not waste time on a wild goose chase and miss an opportunity to ensure that BTC is properly positioned for competition.
With CWC unflinching in its position, and Christie under pressure to deliver on an important campaign promise, these take back talks are being closely watched.
But will the negotiations lead to an amicable conclusion, a successful one for the Bahamian people and their government, or will they lead to a protracted legal battle that could be harmful to the company and its owners?
Of course, the other possibility is that the talks might just collapse and the government accept its position as a minority owner.
The timing for any decision or action taken by the government in relation to the ownership of BTC is of course the government's decision, but to some observers it appears the time has come for Christie to wrap up the matter and move on.

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