Dear Editor,

The entire Bahamas nowadays seem to be fixated on the question of the sexual preference of Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament for Fort Charlotte and Gaming Board Chairman Dr. Andre Rollins. Let me state from the outset that I take Rollins' word at face value when he says that he is 100 percent heterosexual. I see nothing to suggest otherwise. Rollins and the Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert A. Minnis (Killarney) once again got into a jawing match in the House of Assembly during the mid-year budget debate on March 7.

The argument appeared to have started after Rollins accused Minnis of a conflict of interest relating to an alleged contract the latter's company had with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) while he was minister of health in the Ingraham administration. Rollins had even gone as far as saying that former prime minister Hubert A. Ingraham had expressed grave concerns to Minnis about the matter.

In the March 8 edition of The Nassau Guardian, I read an article about the Rollins/Minnis verbal spat in which the FNM leader stated that he declared the issue of the contract after he was elected to the House of Assembly in 2007. Whether or not the PHA contract with his firm was canceled when he became health minister is for Minnis and the FNM to answer. I am not getting into that.

My main concern is about the ongoing verbal brouhaha about Rollins' sexual preference. The March 7 verbal spat between the Fort Charlotte MP and the FNM leader was the not the first time the two locked horns in the House of Assembly. I am not an avid listener of the proceedings of Parliament, and so I am not in a position to say if Rollins is always caught up in these senseless jawing matches. It was last year that I first saw Rollins getting into it with Minnis while the latter was making a contribution. If my memory serves me correctly, Rollins was heckling the FNM leader.

I also recall hearing some snide remarks about homosexuality being made in the chamber. Rollins and a slew of young PLP parliamentarians were touted as being the new generation of national leaders by Prime Minister Perry G. Christie in the run-up to the general election. He was even featured in an impressive TV campaign ad along with then PLP candidates Renardo Curry, Khaalis Rolle, Clay Sweeting, Ken Dorsett, Alex Storr, Renward Wells, Gregory Moss and Dr. Kendal Major, among others.

Rollins was a highly sought after political firebrand after his stellar performance on the live televised Elizabeth by-election debate in 2010 against former Bahamas Democratic Movement Leader-turned FNM Cassius Stuart and former Workers Party Leader-turned Democratic National Alliance supporter Rodney Moncur. Rollins and Renward Wells were leaders in the now supposedly defunct National Development Party (NDP). Rollins was always busy making the rounds on the radio talk show circuit throughout Nassau in order to pontificate the political theories of his fledgling party.

I respected him for his articulation and bold out-of-the-box and innovative ideas on how to improve the Bahamian economy. Obviously, then Opposition Leader Perry Christie surmised that getting Rollins on to his team would add a little umph to the PLP. And so the PLP succeeded in getting the former NDP leader to join in early 2011. Despite being a Johnny-come-lately member of the PLP, Rollins was enthusiastically given a nomination for that party in Fort Charlotte and subsequently won.

However, I am of the view that Rollins has not lived up to the hype and has experienced a severe drop in his political stock over the past several months, due to his penchant for heckling FNM MPs in the House of Assembly. Things became so heated during the latest verbal melee between Minnis and Rollins that Leader of Government Business in Parliament Dr. Bernard Nottage called for a suspension. Rollins was adamant in his accusation that Minnis has been spreading rumors about him being homosexual to a down-market tabloid newspaper.

Looking at the incident on TV news, you could tell that Rollins was absolutely livid at Minnis and the FNM. He went to great lengths to express his heterosexual orientation in that debate. I think the Bahamian people should take him at his word. Rollins said that he is heterosexual, therefore that should settle the matter once and for all. However, human nature being what it is, we tend to believe the worst about people. These unproven rumors have the potential of destroying Rollins' career as a dentist in this country. We would rather believe a lie than the truth.

Mark Twain once said that a lie can travel around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. His critics need to get off his case and focus instead on the burgeoning national debt, the projected $650 million budget deficit, the three alleged police killings, the high murder rate, the failing educational system, the disappointing performance of the PLP government and the overstaffed government corporations which continue to bleed the national coffers.

Having said all that, I must say that I am still very surprised and disappointed in Rollins' behavior so far as an MP in the House of Assembly. Judging from his stellar and passionate performance as NDP leader, I thought that he would elevate debates in the honorable chamber. I never saw this coming from him before May 7. Rollins needs to focus his attention on representing his Fort Charlotte constituents and not allow any of his detractors to get into his head.

- Kevin Evans

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